A Northern Territory police officer's quarters have been ransacked in the remote community of Wadeye with tactical response officers deployed to the region to help stop a rising tide of unrest. The territory's police minister says the latest round of violence gripping the community is "unacceptable"... and that the focus has now turned to arresting those responsible.
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TVTranscript
00:00 A barbed wire police compound ram raided in Wadair.
00:07 This has occurred I believe seven times over the last 12 months where the actual perimeter
00:11 has been rammed, been cut or have been accessed.
00:15 The troubled West Daly community around 400km southwest of Darwin has been hit by more social
00:21 unrest.
00:22 Less than a month after a man was shot with an arrow during a fight with up to 40 people.
00:27 The unrest is extremely disappointing and we've seen this being a long standing issue
00:30 in Wadair between some of the families there.
00:33 In answer to the unrest, tactical response officers have this week been sent into the
00:37 region with arrests in sight.
00:40 We've seen our police further deployed out there with the territory response group, further
00:44 six officers.
00:45 Through their hard work and sheer determination we've got that back under control.
00:48 They've identified some ringleaders and perpetrators.
00:51 With their compound attacked repeatedly, the police unions concerned that officers based
00:56 in Wadair aren't fully safe.
00:58 Just a few days ago one officer's quarters was ransacked with property stolen.
01:03 We need more members on the ground permanently to assist them so they're not burnt out, so
01:08 they're not coming home and finding that their compound is getting breached, they're not
01:12 sleeping, their families aren't feeling unsafe and not secure.
01:16 NT Police say a comprehensive review into the site's security is now underway.
01:22 The safety and wellbeing of our officers and their families are paramount, they said.
01:27 Any recommendations for upgrades or replacements to existing structures will be treated as
01:32 a priority.
01:33 Police Minister Brent Potter says he'll be heading out to Wadair to meet with frontline
01:37 officers and their families at the station later this week.
01:41 [BLANK_AUDIO]