Northern Territory Police Force (NTPF) will be immediately expanding Operation Ludlow across Alice Springs in response to recent serious incidents in the town.
This operational expansion comes after the serious assault of a mother and child in Larapinta yesterday, where the infant suffered a serious head injury after allegedly being struck by a blunt weapon. Detectives have spoken with family members and the infant involved is currently in a stable condition in hospital in Adelaide.
Two males, aged 16 and 17, have since been arrested and charged with a multitude of offences and will appear in court today.
In a separate serious incident, a woman was sexually assaulted in her home in East Side last weekend. A 22-year-old man was arrested and charged with serious offending that remains before the courts.
Additional Operation Ludlow resourcing will begin deploying immediately, with a strong focus on the outer suburbs of the town as police are acutely aware of an increase of serious incidents in residential areas.
Operation Ludlow has been running for five weeks as an intel-led crime reduction taskforce and its members will now be assigned sectors of Alice Springs to focus on proactive policing. The public can expect to see more officers, at all times of the day and night, patrolling these suburbs and keeping the community safe.
The North, East, West, Central and Rural sectors of Alice Springs to the South will have dedicated police resources allocated, and residents will see foot and vehicle patrols, ATVs, motorbikes, and mobile police stations operating across all sectors.
Ludlow leverages existing governance structures through the Interagency Tasking and Coordination Group and the Strategic Patrollers Group where police and Council work together on joint ranger/police patrols for hot spots and the Council's Community Development team events.
NTPF remain committed to working with all stakeholders including the Government and local councils to improve community safety across the Territory.
The Alice Springs Crime Command will also be ramping up its Fugitive Taskforce with the sole goal of targeting repeat and recidivist offenders across the region.
Southern Commander James Gray-Spence said, "The Commissioner Michael Murphy flew down this morning to Alice Springs to be briefed on the situation and has directed the expansion of Operation Ludlow immediately.
"The recent incidents we have seen have been abhorrent and incredibly traumatic for the victims and families involved.
"The community of Alice Springs deserves to be safe, and the Northern Territory Police Force is doing all we can ensure that safety.
"I would like to commend the work of our tireless frontline who have responded quickly and with great professionalism, arresting offenders and ensuring they are out of the community and put before the courts."
