The two day blitz on alcohol fuelled violence and anti social behaviour codenamed Operation Unite has drawn to a close and has generally been a successful operation.
Acting Deputy Commissioner Grahame Kelly spent both nights of the operation working from the Territory wide Police Operations Centre in Darwin,
"Friday evening was quite pleasing with the majority of people having a great night out which is exactly how it should be, probably influenced by the number of police and the wet weather.
"Disappointingly, Saturday started to show signs of early deterioration which Police are more than familiar with and the inevitable consequences later in the evening.
"Early, excessive drinking and a large number of Christmas parties underway meant high volumes of intoxicated, vertical drinkers - a recipe for disaster.
"One party at a licensed premise in Alice Springs was shut down early by Police, another in Darwin lead to Police requesting premise security to start removing heavily intoxicated persons.
"Police were waking up drunks in garden beds not long after midnight and the situation got worse as the evening progressed.
"I personally witnessed both men and women pouring out of one licensed premise at 4am completely intoxicated, some barely able to walk, making absolute fools of themselves.
"One man was sleeping against a railing for the evening until a Police horse gave him a gentle nudge.
"Of note, with all the high visibility patrols, there were no reports of assaults between 9pm and 5am and I'm told the night was not as bad as usual.
However, it was ugly and a sight Darwin should not be putting up with. It's time for change." Acting Deputy Commissioner Kelly concluded.
A breakdown of statistics from night two of the Operation across the Northern Territory are as follows:
Alice Springs
0 x arrest for alcohol related offence
49 persons in protective custody
30 patrols of licensed premises conducted by Police
2 litres of alcohol tipped out.
Tennant Creek
0 x arrests for alcohol and drug related offences
3 persons in protective custody
7 patrols of licensed premises
7 litres of alcohol tipped out
Katherine
1 x arrests for alcohol and drug related offences
5 persons in protective custody
2 patrols of licensed premises
8 litres of alcohol tipped out
Darwin
7 x arrests for alcohol and drug related offences.
20 persons in protective custody
64 patrols of licensed premises
26 litres of alcohol tipped out
There were 5 arrests for drink driving, 2 low range, 2 medium range and 1 high range (0.183).
Follow ntpolice on twitter and view Acting Deputy Commissioner Kelly's tweets from both nights of the operation.
Media contact:
Katie Fowden
0401 116 540
