Australian Native Mud Crime

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EVER since shocking footage of the mistreatment of juvenile offenders in the Northern Territory sparked a royal commission last year, crime and the social issues that go with it have been front of mind in the public consciousness.

http://www.ntnews.com.au/lifestyle/stop-this-neverending-crime-cycle-of-insanity/news-story/ebc007fdae0ba43edc3e198036849295

And while the commissioners focused their attention on the treatment of young people in detention and the protection of children in general, the underlying offending continued unabated.

Just last month, as the commission handed down its final report, property crime and street violence continued to make headlines across the Territory.

In Alice Springs, management at the iconic National Road Transport Hall of Fame revealed it was considering relocating, citing the cost of dealing with repeated targeting by criminals, while ongoing issues with unruly youth prompted fed-up traditional owners to warn the town was “under siege”.



Meanwhile in Darwin, break-ins continue to frustrate business owners and terrify residents, many of whom no longer feel safe in their own homes as a result.
Police say they are getting on top of the issue, with property offences falling to 580 in Darwin in September, down from a 12-month high of 803 in January and March, after peaking at 2350 across the Territory at the start of the year.

“Following a few months of higher levels of property offending across the Darwin Metropolitan Command, it is good to see that the efforts of frontline police, supported by Strike Force Trident and the community, has seen a solid decline in property crime across the command,” Darwin Metropolitan Commander James O’Brien says.

And while long-time Top End residents may be sceptical the dip will be anything more than a temporary lull, seen countless times before only to rise again during decades of policy failure under successive governments, those at the coalface say they are optimistic the tide may finally be turning.

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VICTIMS of Crime NT chief executive Jeff Stanton knows only too well how devastating break-ins can be for those who find themselves the target of criminals.

In his role at VCNT, he speaks for those whose voices are often lost among the headlines and statistics, and says break-ins top their list of concerns.

“It affects your whole feeling of security — have you locked all the doors at night-time? Are all the windows shut? It makes people closed-in, not feeling confident to get out in the street and go see the neighbours,” he says.

“It creates fearful communities and fearful individuals. Building a sense of community is one of the best ways to prevent break-ins, but when that’s broken down, people are very isolated and they get scared — and understandably scared.”

Mr Stanton is critical of the royal commission for paying scant attention to the perspective of victims, having dedicated “one page and a third out of about 700 pages” to their point of view.

“On one side it wasn’t their role to do that, it was looking at youth justice, Don Dale and what happened there, but we were disappointed that more attention wasn’t given to what victims wanted in that report,” he says. And while welcoming the commission’s recommendations in general, Mr Stanton says it is critical victims are able to play a role in their implementation.

“There’s nothing worse than feeling like you’ve been seriously impacted by crime and then you’re expected to sit down, shut up and stay in the corner,” he says.

“You want to get it out, you want to express what’s happened and you want to see that justice is done and something changes — and the pathway for how that can happen is not in that report.

“Until you really include a formalised process for involvement of victims you raise the level of anger in the community and you raise the possibility of the situation getting worse.”

But now, for the first time in decades, Mr Stanton says the ‘tough on crime’ policies that have been winning votes in the Territory since the dawn of self-government are being rethought.

And despite the kneejerk support those policies often draw from frustrated victims of crime who feel their voice has been ignored, Mr Stanton says that’s a good thing.

“Looking at it practically, what’s been happening in the Northern Territory hasn’t worked. That’s obvious to everybody,” he says.

“So when people say the solution is lock-’em-up-and-throw-away-the-key type solutions, all you’re doing is producing more people that are going to come out the other end and be more violent, more aggressive and have more anger and more crime.

“What’s happening here now, for the first time in my memory — and I’ve been backwards and forwards to Darwin since 1972 — the government’s seriously looking at alternatives.”

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JEFF Stanton is not alone. In the wake of the royal commission — and despite the ongoing challenges many Territory communities face, including the intergenerational disadvantage present in many indigenous communities — optimism appears to be the prevailing mood.

Steve Versteegh, the executive director of Aboriginal drug and alcohol rehab organisation FORWAARD, says he also believes things are “moving in the right direction”.

“We are far more optimistic with the way in which things are being approached these days,” he says. “We’ve certainly had more opportunities to receive clients coming to our program so we’re at capacity at the moment and have been for probably nine months now.

“Certainly from our perspective we’ve had some really good success in terms of supporting people back to healthy living and healthy lifestyles, helping them get back to their families and their country.”

At the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency, principle legal officer David Woodroffe is similarly upbeat, but says it’s now time for governments to follow through on what he sees as a “new mindset” stemming from the royal commission process.

“I think fundamentally the royal commission was so important to the Northern Territory — it’s so important because it is about everyone having a new mindset about how we should be working in youth justice — and not just in government policy, but in our laws, in our policing, but also in communities,” he says.

“How do we make our communities safer and how do we actually do things (other than) the old ways of (being) tough on crime? How do we make our communities safer by making children safer in their homes with their families?”

But unanswered questions aside, when it comes to conjecture about whether real change is actually possible, Mr Woodroffe is unequivocal.

“It has to happen because we can’t go back to the same old ways of doing things,” he says.

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PREDICTING the future is always a fraught business, but for Jeff Stanton the equation comes back to a question of sanity.

“What did Einstein say: ‘What’s the definition of insanity? When you keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect to get a different result.’ The Territory for years was doing the same thing over and over again and look at the result, it’s got worse not better,” he says.

“If you come and talk to me in a year’s time and the situation’s the same I’ll be the first one to say ‘it’s stuffed’.

“But to go back to my definition of insanity, it ain’t gonna work doing the same thing any more. The community’s got to be prepared to give a chance for some of the things to change.”

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http://www.ntnews.com.au/lifestyle/antisocial-behaviour-nightcliff-village-takeaway-to-shut-because-its-cheaper-to-pay-out-lease-than-stay-open/news-story/d8a2e17b28a7e6ac46e1e2abc179431d

A NIGHTCLIFF Village seafood store has shut up shop, with its owners claiming it is cheaper to pay out its lease than continue operating.

Kim’s Fish and Chips has become the latest business to feel the effects of constant anti-social behaviour which has plagued the Village.

Manager Ron Choong, wife to owner Kim, said itinerants begging for money, swearing and fighting drove customers away.

Mr Choong said on one occasion, a customer had a $20 note snatched out of their hand by an itinerant.

After opening the store eight years ago, Mr Choong said it was more cost effective for the business to let the lease run out than to keep trading.

The couple’s sole focus is their restaurant on Stokes Hill Wharf which they opened 16 years ago.

“Business was dropping. No one was coming to that place anymore because as soon as you got out of the car they would be begging,” he said.

“We used to do a lot of business in the afternoon with mums after they picked up the kids and were dropping in to buy a bit of food.

“But they’ve stopped coming because you take the kids there and they all this swearing going on and sometimes it would get a bit dangerous when a fight broke out.

“We are losing money opening that place. So in the end we thought we might as well close it and pay the rent.

“We were broken into three times in three months and nothing much was taken, it’s just that things are destroyed.”

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https://www.google.com.au/amp/www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5168967/amp/Father-son-attack-Aboriginal-boy-horrific-video.html

An Aboriginal teenager in Port Augusta has been thrown to the ground and violently attacked by the brother and father of a girl he allegedly spat on.

The boy was chased down by the father-son duo in a sickening video uploaded to Facebook on Monday by the victims aunty.

After being smashed into a concrete wall and thrown to the ground at the hands of the son, the father then demands the boy to apologise 'for spitting on his daughter'.

The son continues to throw punches into the sides of the victim, who can be heard repeatedly screaming, 'I'm sorry'.

As the son continues to unleash his aggressive wrath, the father halts the attack momentarily to direct the victim onto his knees.

'Who else are you sorry to? Sorry to my daughter? To his mum? You better f***ing mean it,' he bellows while standing above him.

'You know what's going to happen to your f***ing famliy if I ever hear you say anything again, you know what's going to f****ing happen?

'I'm going to come to your f***ing house mate and it's going to be f***ing hell, you got it?'.'

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http://www.ntnews.com.au/news/northern-territory/grog-thief-stays-out-of-jail/news-story/6b31dd0ffeff74266e0b94d3fdcda101

A  TENNANT CREEK woman was given a 28-month jail ­sentence for robbing a long-time family friend of $160 worth of alcohol.

Chastity Tanami, 19, pleaded guilty to entering the Haddock St unit of Anthony Jeffs, 67, at 11pm on November 16 last year. Justice Judith Kelly told the NT Supreme Court during Tanami’s sentencing that the offender had known Mr Jeffs for 14 years when she bashed loudly on his window asking to use the toilet.

Mr Jeffs let Tanami in but didn’t lock his front door, the court heard.

As he went back to check the front door, a man grabbed Mr Jeffs in a choke hold and said “we’re here for grog”.

Mr Jeffs could not break free of the co-offender’s grip and as he struggled Tanami stole three 700ml bottles of Cougar spirits, Johnny Walker Red Label and Jim Beam, and a 700ml bottle of chardonnay.

The pair ran off down a laneway with the booze and Mr Jeffs, who did not own a phone, locked up his property.

He went to the police ­station the next day to report the crime. Justice Kelly said the ­offence was a “gross breach of trust”.

“You gained entry into the victim’s house because he has known you since you were a little girl,” she said.

“Your mother was a friend of his. And you played on his sympathy asking him if you could use the toilet. I have to say, that was a very nasty thing to do. I have read a victim ­impact statement from Mr Jeffs. He is not happy that he had to pay to replace the things that you stole. He wants you to pay him back.”

Justice Kelly sentenced Tanami to two years and eight months jail to be suspended immediately.

She backdated the sentence to when Tanami entered a residential rehab clinic in August.

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http://www.ntnews.com.au/news/darwin-mayor-kon-vatskalis-wants-land-allocated-in-berrimah-to-help-solve-itinerant-problem/news-story/7d670634dc748c585fd8b178caa05f8e

Darwin Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis says it is time for a new way of thinking to address the lingering itinerant problem threatening CBD businesses and tourism.

“I am proposing a solution that can provide safety, a place to stay at night and medical assistance to these people ... the Northern Territory Government, councils, the Larrakia, NGOs and indigenous medical services can work together on this,” Mr Vatskalis said.

He has called on the Territory Government to allocate land in Berrimah to provide accommodation facilities to get the itinerants off the city streets.

Mr Vatskalis said none government organisations that currently provide free meals in the city for the homeless and those living rough should also relocate to that area to provide the same service.

“Toilet and washing facilities can provide the itinerants with the opportunity to clean up regaining their dignity,” he said. “An indigenous medical service can provide medical examination and treatment where required.

“The Larakia Nation can utilise their return to country program to facilitate the return of these people to their homes.

“Alcohol rehabilitation services should be established to assist these people out of their addiction.

“Police foot patrols, Larrakia patrols and Council rangers working combined can move people, who still live rough in the city areas, to that facility. NGOs should stop providing the free meals in the city as their services are now in the new facility.”

Mr Vatskalis said those who will oppose it on the grounds of “how much will it cost?” should think how much is the cost today to Darwin, the business community and the lost revenue by customers and tourists not coming into the city because of the current itinerant problem.