Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Matt Hepworth spoke with NT Police Commander Matthew Hollamby on Crime Stats Report released on Friday

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Matt Hepworth spoke with NT Police Commander Matthew Hollamby on Crime Stats Report released on Friday · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: As we've been discussing nearly three hundred rural residents of
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: pack Day Community Hall to address concerns of crime in
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: the area. We heard from Keziapuric, who was at that meeting.
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  Speaker 1: We've heard from the Northern Territory Police Minister. And now
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  Speaker 1: for the police themselves, it is the Anti Police Commander
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  Speaker 1: of Darwin and Road Police in Command, Matt Hollenby. Matt,
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  Speaker 1: good morning.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning Matt, and good morning to your listeners.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I believe you had a couple of officers at
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  Speaker 1: that meeting on Saturday. From a police perspective, how did
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  Speaker 1: it go?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, Matt, A couple of their officers did go. They
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  Speaker 3: were senior officers from Palmerston. And yeah, there was obviously
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  Speaker 3: a lot of angry residents in the rural area due
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  Speaker 3: to a crime spike in that area. And yeah, they
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  Speaker 3: vented their concerns and they vented them quite loudly in
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  Speaker 3: some cases.
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  Speaker 1: So it was quite fiery and confrontational at times. Was
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  Speaker 1: that a difficult situation for those officers to face.
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  Speaker 2: Look, I think it is.
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  Speaker 3: But having said that, our role is to protect and
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  Speaker 3: serve the community, and you know, they were there to
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  Speaker 3: provide information and feedback to the community and to deliver
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  Speaker 3: crime prevention messaging. So I think they did that quite well.
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  Speaker 3: But having said that, we accept that there are some
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  Speaker 3: rather upset people out in the rural area.
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  Speaker 1: Residents are concerned about what they're describing as a perceived
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  Speaker 1: crime wave in the area. We know on Friday the
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  Speaker 1: latest crime statistics were released. Are you able to talk
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  Speaker 1: us through some of those numbers when it comes to
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  Speaker 1: crime in Darwines rural area.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, Look, the crime statistics for the Northern Territory show
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  Speaker 3: that property crime has gone down across the Northern Territory.
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  Speaker 3: There are some regional variations and we're aware of There
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  Speaker 3: was a regional spike in our springs which we developed
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  Speaker 3: an operation to target that particular spike. There was some
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  Speaker 3: youth issues in in Karama and Malac and we developed
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  Speaker 3: an operation to address those issues. But overall, the crime
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  Speaker 3: figures talk about what happened in the last twelve months
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  Speaker 3: compared to what happened the twelve months before that, So
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  Speaker 3: you know, in some cases it's old news and what
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  Speaker 3: we really need to do is target the hero and
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  Speaker 3: now and develop to identify crime spikes and deal with
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  Speaker 3: them quickly.
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  Speaker 1: There was an emphasis from police on Saturday on urging
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  Speaker 1: residents to report any suspicious behavior. I saw some footage
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  Speaker 1: where Kezi Epiric asked the room. They said, look, if
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  Speaker 1: you've been a victim of crime and you haven't reported it,
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  Speaker 1: pop your hand up, and there was a series of
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  Speaker 1: hands that went up across the room. Based on the
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  Speaker 1: fact that those latest crime statistics suggest that property crime
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  Speaker 1: is down in some areas, is there a chance that
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  Speaker 1: crime is being under reported?
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  Speaker 2: Look, Matt, we can't investigate what we don't know about.
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  Speaker 3: What I can say is that the number of thirty
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  Speaker 3: odd crimes that have been reported or intos that have
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  Speaker 3: been reported in the rural area, I think thirteen of
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  Speaker 3: those a round law forul entries in the last couple
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  Speaker 3: of months, and a lot of the others are unlocked
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  Speaker 3: cars been opened and gone through and you know, five
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  Speaker 3: dollars in coin, stolen, cigarette stolen off the back table,
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  Speaker 3: you know, things of that nature. And yes, it's distressing
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  Speaker 3: for the rural residents, but you know, the rural area
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  Speaker 3: doesn't really experience a lot of crime at all, and
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  Speaker 3: in recent months we've hardly had anything whatsoever in the
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  Speaker 3: rural area. So you know, this is obviously very noticeable
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  Speaker 3: to those residents.
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  Speaker 1: And I guess that would be the frustrating thing. And
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  Speaker 1: I think why there was so much anger and frustrating
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  Speaker 1: frustration at this meeting on Saturdays, because traditionally the rural
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  Speaker 1: area is quite a part of Darwin where people don't
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  Speaker 1: expect this kind of behavior. So naturally, when we've seen
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  Speaker 1: you know, quite a few incidents lately, I guess there
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  Speaker 1: is a lot of anger and emotion in this topic
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  Speaker 1: right now.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely, And again you know it's a recent crime spike
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  Speaker 3: and we're you know, Strikeforce, Trident and Palmston and have
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  Speaker 3: to do police for onto it.
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  Speaker 1: The Anti News reports that some residents that that meeting
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  Speaker 1: asked and I quote, can we shoot them? Can we
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  Speaker 1: use our registered firearms? If we fear for our lives?
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  Speaker 1: What is reasonable force to protect our families? Are you
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  Speaker 1: worried when you hear language like that?
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  Speaker 2: I think it's probably out of a sense of frustration.
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  Speaker 3: But the important thing is that you ring the police,
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  Speaker 3: and the police will respond as quickly as we can.
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  Speaker 3: You know, you're entitled to defend yourself, but you know
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  Speaker 3: there is reasonable and unreasonable force, and you know if
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  Speaker 3: you need to use reasonable force to defend yourself or
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  Speaker 3: your family.
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  Speaker 2: So be it.
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  Speaker 1: How do you describe that though? I guess it's so subjective,
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  Speaker 1: isn't it?
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  Speaker 3: Well, it is, But at the end of the day,
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  Speaker 3: ringing the police is the is your first option, and
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  Speaker 3: you know in an emergency, we'll get there pretty quickly.
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  Speaker 1: We've had a couple of text come in this morning
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  Speaker 1: asking the question for rural residents to have dogs on
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  Speaker 1: their property, what happens if my dog gets a hold
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  Speaker 1: of an offender on my property? What are the legalities
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  Speaker 1: around that?
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  Speaker 3: Look, you know, I'm not going to talk to all
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  Speaker 3: of those circumstances, but you know, we get it. Nearly
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  Speaker 3: everyone in the rural area's got dogs, and they bark,
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  Speaker 3: and they're there for a purpose. So yeah, just as
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  Speaker 3: long as you're you know, you're not using a dog
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  Speaker 3: as a weapon. You know, we all have dogs for
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  Speaker 3: our own individual reasons.
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  Speaker 1: I spoke with the police minister a short time ago.
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  Speaker 1: She said investigations are underway into a number of those
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  Speaker 1: crime incidents reported in the rule area. Have you identified
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  Speaker 1: any of those offenders at all? And will any arrests
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  Speaker 1: and charges be made?
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  Speaker 3: Look, I'm not going to go into individual investigations, but
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  Speaker 3: I can say that you know, we're across what's going on,
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  Speaker 3: and you know there has been thirteen on all ful entries,
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  Speaker 3: and there has been a number of stealings, and you
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  Speaker 3: know it's a it's a hot topic, as Karama was,
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  Speaker 3: as Alice Springs was, and well we'll target that in
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  Speaker 3: a proper way.
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  Speaker 1: Are you worried we could see an increase in these
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  Speaker 1: types of crimes, particularly property crimes, coming into the Christmas holidays.
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  Speaker 3: Well, crime unfortunately does tend to go up over the
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  Speaker 3: Christmas period, and sometimes January is the worst month because
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  Speaker 3: you know, people go away and they get back and
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  Speaker 3: find out something's been stolen from their property. So what
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  Speaker 3: we'd really strongly encourage is to just take basic crime
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  Speaker 3: prevention activities in your own place over the Christmas period.
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  Speaker 3: If you're going away, take an extra step. You can
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  Speaker 3: go to the Neighborhood Watch website that has some really
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  Speaker 3: good tips.
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  Speaker 2: But you know, the important thing is.
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  Speaker 3: That you lock your doors, lock your cars, and for
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  Speaker 3: goodness sake, please don't leave your car keys, or your
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  Speaker 3: your walla do or your purse on the bench.
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  Speaker 1: Just finally, Matt with your road Police in Command hat
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  Speaker 1: on if we can. As I mentioned, you know, Christmas
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  Speaker 1: holidays coming up. Watch your message for those traveling on
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  Speaker 1: the roads this Christmas here.
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  Speaker 3: Look, Christmas is a time of celebration and you know
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  Speaker 3: we all like to have a drink at Christmas time,
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  Speaker 3: not discouraging that, but what I am discouraging is driving
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  Speaker 3: under the influence of alcoholic drugs. We will be in
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  Speaker 3: force over the Christmas period and you know, if you
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  Speaker 3: break the law, we'll make no apologies about taking action.
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  Speaker 3: So be careful on the roads. Eleven people died in
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  Speaker 3: the month of December last year on our roads, which
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  Speaker 3: was really, really tragic and we certainly don't want to
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  Speaker 3: repeat it that this year.
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  Speaker 1: Will there be increased police presence with the likes of
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  Speaker 1: RBTs and that kind of thing in the lead up
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  Speaker 1: to Christmas?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, Look we're planning a series of large scale
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  Speaker 3: random breath testing activities in the lead up and over
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  Speaker 3: the whole Christmas holiday period that'll be supported by some
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  Speaker 3: smaller ones. So you know, nearly fifty percent of our
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  Speaker 3: fatal crashes on happen in the Nordon territory alcohol related.
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  Speaker 3: So it is and it is a key causal factor.
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  Speaker 3: And you know we make no apologies about targeting it.
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  Speaker 1: Anti police Commander Matt Holland Hollandy from the Darwin and
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  Speaker 1: Roade Policing Command, thank you so much for coming in
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  Speaker 1: and answering some of those listeners questions this morning.
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  Speaker 2: Always a pleasure