Northern Territory Police were relatively pleased with the behaviour surrounding the 2024 Royal Darwin Show, with a few notable exceptions.
High visibility patrols were conducted of both the interior and exterior of the Royal Darwin Showgrounds, including the main carpark and around the greater Winnellie area.
Over the 3 day period it is estimated that 47,500 people attended the event with a very high level of positive engagement with members of the public, stall holders and other government departments.
As expected with an event of such size, police attended multiple incidents over the 3 days including:
• 11 x Ejections (Youth x 9, Adults x 2)
• 57 x People moved on
• 2 x Welfare concerns
• 1 x Domestic and Family Violence incident
• 72 x Litres of alcohol tipped out
• 4 x Missing children returned
• 1 x Criminal damage - (Police camera on a police vehicle)
• 1 x Assault police
• 3 x Arrests for alcohol related behaviour
Of note, at 9:45pm on Friday 26 July 2024, police were called to reports of a disturbance at the showground with groups of people fighting and throwing small items. A 19-year-old female was arrested at the scene after refusing to leave the area and allegedly throwing a soft drink can at an attending member. She was later found to have a quantity of cannabis in her possession and was conveyed to Palmerston Watch House to be charged.
In a separate incident on Friday night, a vehicle was reported stolen from the Showgrounds carpark before being abandoned in Holtze. Detectives from Strike Force Trident deployed to the area and the offenders have all since been arrested.
Commander James A. O'Brien said "Police would like to thank the vast majority of attendees who did the right thing and enjoyed themselves responsibly.
"While it is disappointing that a small cohort chose to cause disturbances and act in a completely unacceptable way, in comparison to the number of people who acted responsibly, the overall behaviour was quite good.
"Our members always love engaging with their community and we look forward to attending next year's event."
