Police in Alice Springs will launch Operation Doushen this week, a series of special operations targeting youth activity over the Christmas holiday period.
Detective Senior Sergeant Lauren Hill said Operation Doushen would be launched on Thursday night, with both plain clothed and uniformed police focussing on youth and anti-social behaviour.
"Police will have a zero tolerance to anti-social behaviour these Christmas holidays and this co-ordinated operation aims to put police out on the streets when such problems are most likely to occur."
"This will be a high-profile campaign to target groups of individuals loitering in and around the CBD," Det Sen Sgt Hill said.
" As part of Operation Doushen Police will be speaking to youths and taking down their details and, if necessary, loitering and infringement notices will be issued.
"We'll also be continuing with routine baillee checks and targeting hot spots for anti-social behaviour which have been identified by our Intelligence Unit.
Det Senior Sergeant Hill said while Operation Doushen aimed at targeting public spaces, the highly successful City Safe program would also be re-activated over this weekend.
"City Safe has, in the past, proved extremely successful at deterring drunken and other alcohol-fuelled anti-social behaviour in the CBD. City Safe will be used as a follow-up to last week's Operation Unite which targeted licensed premises and anti-social behaviour by patrons in and around those facilities.
"City Safe will see a highly visible police presence patrolling these licensed premises to deter drunken brawls which often occur in the early hours of the morning when bars close." Det Sen Sgt Hill said.
"We also intend using a General Purpose dog for the entire operation as they have proven to be very successful in tracking offenders and deterring behaviour.
"Police are confident the public will soon get the message that we are taking a zero-tolerance approach to this sort of behaviour, whether it's behaviour conducted by drunken patrons of licensed premises or youths roaming the streets at night intimidating others and committing crimes. Our message to parents is to ensure your children are safe and behaving responsibly."
Operation Doushen will continue to operate throughout the Christmas holiday period.
Media contact:
Theresa Kuilboer
8951 8825
0419 803 603
