Katherine community seek solutions to surging crime
Small businesses and residents in the northern territory town of Katherine have been struggling with a surge in property damage and break-ins during the school holidays with many of the incidents involving young people. On the ground, community groups are doing what they can to help kids make better choices with advocates calling for police and youth workers to come together to find solutions.
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00:00 This room should be full of people with disabilities doing art and woodwork.
00:07 The back window here has had a large rock thrown through it, so there's smashed glass all over the floors.
00:11 Staff at this Catherine NDIS provider say they feel like they're being targeted,
00:16 after their facilities were hit 17 times in just over a year, impacting their disabled clients.
00:22 We were talking about somebody who has limited mobility,
00:25 has essentially no independent ability to access the community,
00:29 and this happening means that that person doesn't get to access the community
00:34 and it has a really direct effect on their quality of life.
00:37 Catherine police told the ABC they don't believe the business is being targeted as such,
00:42 but it's just one of many victims of a significant uptick in property crime over the wet season.
00:47 A frustrated community is looking for solutions that will get to the cause of the problem.
00:52 Quiet, guys, keep it quiet!
00:54 At the local YMCA, drop-in nights give young people a safe place to play.
00:59 The kids will probably tell you we cook the best feed in town.
01:02 There are more than 90 young people here. Many have brought themselves.
01:06 And then we get them home. And I think that's the essence of it.
01:12 We want to know the kids have had a good time and that they've got home safely.
01:16 That sometimes means making sure kids with curfew orders don't break them,
01:21 while kids who talk to staff about their problems can be referred to other services.
01:26 Local police pop in to watch.
01:28 We don't want the police seen only negatively.
01:31 We want the youth to be able to feel comfortable and safe enough
01:34 to also go to them and say, hey, I've got a problem.
01:37 There's calls to see teams of police and youth workers on patrol together 24/7,
01:42 as has been rolled out in Queensland.
01:45 They do have capacity to work together and they just need that modelling and support.
01:49 A chance for new solutions to a complex problem.
01:53 [BLANK_AUDIO]