Katherine residents gather en masse to protest rolling youth crime spree
Some Katherine residents are calling for a youth curfew to be imposed after a group of joy-riding youths nearly collided with a mother and her 2-year-old daughter while they were driving home yesterday.
In Katherine, a community gathered en masse to protest a recent surge in youth-related crime, following a series of car thefts and one fatal accident. Local member Jo Hersey plans to discuss the issue with Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro, while some locals suggest implementing a youth curfew. About 50 residents gathered on the town's main street, expressing their fear and frustration over the crime rate.
The NT Police acknowledged community frustration but defended their decision not to pursue suspects after the latest incident, citing potential risks. Local businessman Ben Coutts called for a "coffee with a cop" event to discuss the issue. Natalie Ellis, involved with a program for at-risk youth, noted that while some commentary on social media has been harsh against Aboriginal people, 95% of the town's youth are good.
The crowd included members of the Katherine Town Council, some of whom proposed a temporary youth curfew like those in Alice Springs. NT Police Superintendent Virginia Read suggested more police resources for Katherine. Member for Katherine Jo Hersey shared the community's frustration and would continue to raise the issue with the Chief Minister.
Ashleigh Pugh shared her harrowing experience of narrowly avoiding a collision with a stolen car. However, crime statistics show a decrease in overall offending rates in Katherine, with property crimes down 8% and crimes against the person down 14% in the past year. Long-time locals, though, feel crime is worse than ever.
Written by urgent.news from ABC News AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written; read the original for the full account.
