An emergency youth curfew to crack down on a crime wave in Alice Springs could cover the entire school holidays as violations of the overnight ban continue.
Twenty-five youths breached the curfew on Sunday night, March 31, and were taken home with support services offered to their families, Northern Territory Chief Minister Eva Lawler said.
“Some families are really struggling to make sure that their children are doing the right thing, that they have those boundaries in place,” Ms. Lawler said on April 1.
She said the curfew could be continued.
“We looked at that two-week period to cover Easter and the start of the school holiday,” Ms. Lawler said.
“That might be one of the first steps is to look at possibly extending it for those days over the school holidays.”
The 14-day curfew was imposed as part of an emergency declaration after chaos hit the red centre town on March 26, when youths attacked the Todd Tavern as tensions escalated following the death of a teenager.
Brawls continued later in the evening as family members mourned the death, with up to 150 people clashing in town camps.
The curfew declared on March 27 barred anyone under the age of 19 entering the Alice Springs CBD between 6pm and 6am.
Ms. Lawler said it was pleasing more families had asked for help and support to help care for their children since the curfew started.
Most Alice Springs residents were “absolutely overjoyed” by the curfew and “pressure release” it had brought to the town of about 30,000 people.
“Anecdotally the evidence is that the town is so much more quieter ... there has been a reduction of crime in the areas outside of the CBD,” the Chief Minister said.
“The police have done an amazing job to get the curfew in place.”
Rising tensions in the desert town were inflamed by the death of an 18-year-old in a fatal car accident in early March.
He died after hanging out of the window of a stolen car that rolled over in the Alice Springs CBD and was left there by the driver and passengers.
The attack on the Todd Tavern caused about $30,000 (US$19,552) in damage.
After the emergency declaration was made on the same day, police deployed an extra 58 police officers to the town.
Officers seized more than 50 weapons, including spears, axes and clubs, following the clashes in town camps on Tuesday night, March 26.
