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Katie Woolf spoke with NT Police Assistant Commissioner Travis Wurst · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Three sixty with Katie Wolf. Join the conversation with Katie Wolf.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: You are our eyes and ears in the Territory Mixed
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: one oh four point nine.
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  Speaker 2: We know that the Northern Territory Police are investigating the
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  Speaker 2: death of a twenty year old male in Karama overnight
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  Speaker 2: just before midnights and John Ambulance received a report from
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  Speaker 2: security guards of an assault near a shopping center in Karama.
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  Speaker 2: And we also know that a twenty five year old
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  Speaker 2: female was also taken to Royal Darwin Hospital with what's
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: been described as significant injuries to her stomach and remains
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  Speaker 2: in a serious but stable condition. Now joining us in
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  Speaker 2: the studio Northern Territory Police Assistant Commissioner Travis Wurst. Good
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  Speaker 2: morning to you.
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  Speaker 1: Morning Katy. How are you?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, very well? Are you able to give us a
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  Speaker 2: little bit of an update on the situation in Karama
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  Speaker 2: this morning?
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  Speaker 3: So, as you described, there was a tragic incident in
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  Speaker 3: Karama overnight. As a consequence, police have established three crime
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  Speaker 3: scenes in that particular area. All of those crime scenes
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  Speaker 3: are still up and being made as we speak. What
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  Speaker 3: that will mean for Karama is that there will be
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  Speaker 3: some traffic disruption as a consequence. I can't tell you
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  Speaker 3: how long that'll be up for, but it'll be some time.
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  Speaker 3: We need to obviously do our job as thoroughly as
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  Speaker 3: we possibly can. There is a person that's currently in
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  Speaker 3: custody assisting police in relation to this matter. And this
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  Speaker 3: matter is obviously sitting with Major Crime given the gravity
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  Speaker 3: of what's occurred, and a further update we provided by
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  Speaker 3: Crime in due courses today goes on.
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  Speaker 2: All right, So Major Crime will be out a bit
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  Speaker 2: later today providing a further update in terms of those
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  Speaker 2: three crime scenes. So I'm assuming that there are three
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  Speaker 2: different areas around Karama where people won't be able to access. Correct, Yes,
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  Speaker 2: do we have any idea where those are at this point?
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  Speaker 2: Otherwise I can get that further info a little bit
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  Speaker 2: later this morning.
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  Speaker 3: So the main disruption will will be to Klimnos Drive,
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  Speaker 3: which is obviously the main thoroughfare through Karama. That is
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  Speaker 3: the place that will cause the most disruption at this
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  Speaker 3: point in time.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, And is there two people currently assisting the police
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  Speaker 2: with those inquiries? All right? And I guess just thinking
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  Speaker 2: about the fact that there's those three crime scenes, but
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  Speaker 2: there are two victims at this point.
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  Speaker 1: Yes, obviously there's.
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  Speaker 3: The female that's currently hospital being traded, who's in a
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  Speaker 3: serious condition. And there's obviously it had ceased the investigations
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  Speaker 3: on going around circumstances, all those elements. As I said,
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  Speaker 3: Chrime will give the listeners more of an update later
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  Speaker 3: in the t.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, Okay, we'll certainly keep an ear out for that
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  Speaker 2: and keep an eye out for that. I know that
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  Speaker 2: there have been a lot of issues in Karama over
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  Speaker 2: the I guess over the last few months or certainly
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  Speaker 2: a lot of people getting in contact about public drunkenness
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  Speaker 2: and people drinking in the area. It's been a real
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  Speaker 2: focus for the Territory Police, hasn't it.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, Over the Christmas period we had a targeted operation
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  Speaker 3: that was focused more on youth related activity in that area,
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  Speaker 3: so across Cramea and Malac and through all in all
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  Speaker 3: the suburbs. To be honest, well, through that targeted approach,
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  Speaker 3: managing those relationships with all those shopping centers, particularly the
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  Speaker 3: local members of parliament and working with all that partners,
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  Speaker 3: Territory families, housing, Lariki a nation, we managed to work
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  Speaker 3: through that and create some significant outcomes for that community.
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  Speaker 3: This particular matter is something that's somewhat out of the box,
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  Speaker 3: and I don't necessarily think that it relates to those
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  Speaker 3: other issues you speak of.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, now I am keen to talk a little bit
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  Speaker 2: more about some of the other alcohol related issues. I
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  Speaker 2: guess that we've seen around the northern territory as well
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  Speaker 2: or up here in the top end. One of those
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  Speaker 2: locations that had been quite bad was Mindle Beach. How
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  Speaker 2: are things going around there at the moment?
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  Speaker 3: Yes, so we certainly saw an increase in activity around
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  Speaker 3: Mindle Beach.
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  Speaker 1: The Middle Beach was a location where.
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  Speaker 3: Council had determined that previously you were able to drink
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  Speaker 3: there whenever you so.
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  Speaker 1: Choose to chose. It wasn't a restricted area.
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  Speaker 3: Council, on receipt of a letder from US, gave that
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  Speaker 3: due consideration and now you can only drink there during
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  Speaker 3: the men Beach Markets periods. We then focused a lot
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  Speaker 3: of attention in that area. Police, Slariqi Nation and town
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  Speaker 3: council spent a lot of time working with the people
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  Speaker 3: who were living rough down there and found them alternativeccommodation
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  Speaker 3: manage a lot of the alcohol related issues. And my
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  Speaker 3: advice today is that we're not seeing anywhere near the
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  Speaker 3: same reports that we had seen previously, that whole particular
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  Speaker 3: precinct is much safer.
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  Speaker 1: As a consequence.
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  Speaker 3: What does happen, however, is that that causes displacement for
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  Speaker 3: those who choose to live rough or drink and they
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  Speaker 3: don't want to live in any other supported accommodation. So
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  Speaker 3: that just means that our focus needs to continue to shift.
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  Speaker 3: We continue need to move with those issues as they
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  Speaker 3: as they sort of move to Fanny Bay or to
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  Speaker 3: Parmesan wherever they may go. So that's why it's really
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  Speaker 3: important that the community continue to tell us what they're
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  Speaker 3: seeing and we are then able to build a picture
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  Speaker 3: of what's going on around us, and then we can
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  Speaker 3: make sure we respond accordingly.
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  Speaker 2: Jill's going to ask, I mean, have we seen some
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  Speaker 2: of those people sort of move to other locations like
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  Speaker 2: East Point for example, to drink.
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  Speaker 3: Not necessarily, but we know that we manage to get
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  Speaker 3: a number of people into alternative supported accommodations Baton Road
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  Speaker 3: and those sorts of places, which is fantastic. That's where
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  Speaker 3: we much prefer people to be living. It's a safe environment,
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  Speaker 3: it's regulated, and it's a better place certainly for children
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  Speaker 3: to live. But displacement does occur for those who choose
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  Speaker 3: to live raugh, drink and they're not interested in those
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  Speaker 3: sorts of environments. It can be each point, it can
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  Speaker 3: be the CBD Stuart Park. There are lots of people
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  Speaker 3: living itinerant lifestyles all over dar On and those people
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  Speaker 3: will just continue to move around whenever we place any
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  Speaker 3: focus in particular areas.
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  Speaker 2: And I guess you know, it probably only becomes a
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  Speaker 2: difficulty if there's alcohol consumed, and if it's if there's
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  Speaker 2: behavior that's then deemed unacceptable.
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  Speaker 1: Look absolutely so it's all about safety.
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  Speaker 3: So what one person considers to be unsafe may be
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  Speaker 3: very different to another. The way in which some of
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  Speaker 3: those people who live rough behave and engage gets to
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  Speaker 3: a point where it's no longer acceptable, and that's when
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  Speaker 3: it becomes our issue and that of Larrakia Town Council.
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  Speaker 3: We still continue to work closely with all those partners
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  Speaker 3: about trying to link those individuals into services and get
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  Speaker 3: them into places of safety that they can live. But
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  Speaker 3: some just choose to live rough in that way because
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  Speaker 3: that's the lifestyle I love chosen. And it's only when
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  Speaker 3: they get to that point that the people's lives are
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  Speaker 3: at risk a danger. We did see across COVID that
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  Speaker 3: as a consequence of increased COVID payments and whatnot, we
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  Speaker 3: did see a lot of people come into town. We
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  Speaker 3: did see an increase in police activity as a consequence.
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  Speaker 3: We've seen that decrease to an extent across certain areas,
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  Speaker 3: but there is still significant, itinerant people of population within
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  Speaker 3: the greata Dale area, which we continue to work with
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  Speaker 3: and all our partners to try and get them either
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  Speaker 3: home or into a place that's safe for them to live.
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  Speaker 2: Now. One of the other operations it has been under
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  Speaker 2: way was Road Safety Week that was underway last week.
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  Speaker 2: I think I've got my dates correct. How did that
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  Speaker 2: go for the Territory Police and was there an operation
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  Speaker 2: that sort of took place to try to curb some
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  Speaker 2: of those issues that we've seen on our rights.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, look absolutely so.
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  Speaker 3: National Road Safety Week was ran from sixteen May to
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  Speaker 3: twenty three May, and tragically it started terribly so at
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  Speaker 3: two point thirty on that Sunday morning, we had a
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  Speaker 3: fatality in Alowa and that fatality led to a person
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  Speaker 3: being charged for dangerous driving. Although that person has been charged,
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  Speaker 3: that investigation into that death is still ongoing, and I
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  Speaker 3: would I MEETIA release went out previously and I asked
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  Speaker 3: again that anyone who saw a silver Hole driving erradically
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  Speaker 3: and recklessly on Knuckie Street at about two o'clock on
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  Speaker 3: that Sunday morning, I asked that you contact police Ringed
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  Speaker 3: Crime Stoppers and provide us that information because that investigation
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  Speaker 3: is ongoing. It's ongoing for two reasons, as a criminal investigation.
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  Speaker 3: Obviously there's an investigation in relation to the current as well.
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  Speaker 2: And I tell you what some of that driver behavior
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  Speaker 2: was surrender us. I've taken a look at some of
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  Speaker 2: that vision, and you would think that there will be
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  Speaker 2: witnesses because it is in the cbday. I know it's
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  Speaker 2: an odd time of the day, but there would be witnesses,
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  Speaker 2: particularly some of those other people that were on the
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  Speaker 2: road at the time.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, look absolutely, and that's what obviously brought that driver
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  Speaker 3: to the police attention in the first instance, just that
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  Speaker 3: complete disregard for those in his car with him, who
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  Speaker 3: the driver that is, and then obviously the other road
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  Speaker 3: users and the other people within the CBD at the time.
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  Speaker 3: So Road Safety Week for us started the week prior
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  Speaker 3: when we spent some time engaging with the schools, and
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  Speaker 3: then as the week went on, it was launched and
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  Speaker 3: we focused primarily in the first few days of that
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  Speaker 3: week on education and engagement around what road safety is,
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  Speaker 3: what it means to the community, and then we moved
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  Speaker 3: into more of an enforcement focus as we went through
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  Speaker 3: the week, and across the last few days of the
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  Speaker 3: week we completed eighteen This is in the grandadawhen Air
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  Speaker 3: We did eighteen round breath testing stations and again those
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  Speaker 3: stations are more focused on the engagement aspects and hoping
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  Speaker 3: that obviously the driver of behavior is such that we're
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  Speaker 3: not detecting any offending that occurs through that those RBTs.
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  Speaker 3: We can conducted fifteen hundred and seventy seven tests and
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  Speaker 3: only twelve positive. That's less one percent positive for any alcohol,
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  Speaker 3: which I actually give the community credit in that regard.
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  Speaker 3: We know how busy Darwin is at the moment. It
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  Speaker 3: is heaving, there's people tourists everywhere, and whether it's day,
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  Speaker 3: evening or night, we expect that people will take heed
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  Speaker 3: of the warnings around using our roads safely, around consideration
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  Speaker 3: for other road users, and make sure that while our
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  Speaker 3: roads are as busy as they are, and you've got
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  Speaker 3: these tourists who don't understand necessarily our roads the same
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  Speaker 3: roads as ever else in Australia, but they drive differently
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  Speaker 3: because they're from say Melton, from the again, and we're
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  Speaker 3: seeing really positive behavior at the moment. We did also
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  Speaker 3: a number of drug tests and we only had one positive,
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  Speaker 3: so it was less than one percent in drug tests
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  Speaker 3: as well, which is interesting because that hasn't been a
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  Speaker 3: trend that we've seen recently.
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  Speaker 2: And just talking about how many units you've got on
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  Speaker 2: the road or how many vans you've got on the road,
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  Speaker 2: I know that that was a point that had been
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  Speaker 2: brought up by the Police Association earlier in the week
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  Speaker 2: saying that in some instances there's one van on the
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  Speaker 2: road at different times. From your perspective, I mean, as
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  Speaker 2: the assistant commissioner, is that the case at the moment.
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  Speaker 1: So the only place that generally has one van on
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  Speaker 1: the road is Humpty Dupe. Okay.
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  Speaker 3: Now, I'm aware of what Paul mcu the president of
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  Speaker 3: the Northern Jokey Police Association said when he spoke with
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  Speaker 3: you on Tuesday, and I've had a conversation with Paul
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  Speaker 3: and I'm still waiting on information from him about what
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  Speaker 3: he's actually speaking of, So which location, which time, which date,
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  Speaker 3: So when I get that information, I'll be able to
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  Speaker 3: assess that in more detail. We've had a look at
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: that particular comment, and what I can say is we
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: don't look at a particular station in isolation.
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  Speaker 1: There is always We've got Darwin, Casarina, Palmerston and hump
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  Speaker 1: to do. All of those have staff.
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  Speaker 3: There is an expectation that there are vans on the
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  Speaker 3: roads from those locations to provide response to the community.
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  Speaker 3: But they don't operate in Casarina, Parmersan or Darwin. They
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  Speaker 3: operate in the Greater day In area. Any time we
• 11:21
  Speaker 3: have a job that's required people to move within, then
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  Speaker 3: they will do so. But that's not just those units.
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  Speaker 3: We've also got traffic units, Territory Response Group are working,
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  Speaker 3: our crime units are always working. We generally have tried
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  Speaker 3: and working as well. There are lots of police units
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  Speaker 3: out there providing response, so you.
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  Speaker 2: Feel as though you've got enough units out there at
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  Speaker 2: any one time to be able to respond to community
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  Speaker 2: concerns as required.
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  Speaker 3: Look absolutely and look at times we have staffing pressures
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: because if we arrest the number of people at the
• 11:50
  Speaker 3: same time in different locations. Then they will be associated
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: with managing those people in custody. So that means that
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: we have to move our resources around. We have the
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: Territory Duty super Tenant and the watch commanders who oversight
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: in Darwin and actually across the whole of the territory
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  Speaker 3: what our operational staffing footprint looks like and making sure
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  Speaker 3: that we have sufficient staff to be able to deliver
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: those services.
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  Speaker 2: So from your perspective, there are enough staff, but sometimes
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  Speaker 2: we're in a situation where there is a lot going
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: on at any one time, so those staff may be
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: tied up at different incidents.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely, and look, last night's a perfect example.
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  Speaker 3: So we have a tragedy that occurs in Kroma that
• 12:26
  Speaker 3: requires a significant policing response, so not just to manage
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: the actual situation that occurs without managing crime scenes. So
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: then it's incumbent upon the Territory Duty Superintendent and the
• 12:37
  Speaker 3: watch commanders to be able to reallocate resources, draw additional
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: resources in is required and ensure that we manage that
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  Speaker 3: particular incident and then anything else that's going on in
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: the community as well.
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  Speaker 2: And so as your message really for territorians that you know,
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: don't think you know, oh, this is an incident that
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  Speaker 2: the police aren't going to be able to come out
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  Speaker 2: to say break and entry. It's still you know, get
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  Speaker 2: in contact with you guys, and you we'll get somebody
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: out there as soon as you can.
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  Speaker 1: Look absolutely.
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  Speaker 3: And the last thing I suppose is worth saying in
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: relation to that is when a job is called into
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  Speaker 3: our Joint Emergency Communication Center, it's graded. So depending on
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: what is being told by the community to the call taker,
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  Speaker 3: it gets graded from one to ten, one to five, sorry,
• 13:21
  Speaker 3: one being the most serious and five being the least serious,
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  Speaker 3: and we will respond to any course of service in
• 13:28
  Speaker 3: line with that grading policy. Now, that is why it's
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: so important for the community to give us all the
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: information they possibly can about what's going on before them, yep.
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  Speaker 1: And it will allows us to manage our response in.
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  Speaker 2: That regard a bit like being triaged at the hospital,
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  Speaker 2: I suppose.
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  Speaker 3: Not dissimilar, not disimilar. We certainly have policies that govern
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  Speaker 3: how we do that. We are committed to serving our community.
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  Speaker 3: Our community deserves the best they can get from us,
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  Speaker 3: and we're committed to doing that well.
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  Speaker 2: And I think the community certainly appreciates the work that
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: our territory police do. NTI Police Assistant Commissioner Travis Wurst,
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: we always appreciate your time. Thanks for coming in this morning.
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: Pleasure