42,000 drunks put in lock-up

More than 42,000 drunks have been processed at the Darwin watch-house in the past 27 months.

In the 10 months to April 2005, 18,271 drunks -- or about 60 a day -- were taken into protective custody.

More than 90 per cent were Aboriginal and about a quarter are female.

In the same period about 7000 drunks have visited the sobering-up shelter run by Mission Australia.

There are about 50 habitual, or hard-core, drunks living in the long grass around Darwin.

This group have made repeated visits to the watch-house for protective custody, with several locked up more than 50 times in the past four months.

Superintendent Peter Gordon said some of Darwin's problems with long-grassers stemmed from accommodation shortages.

"Most long-grassers come in to Darwin for a specific event such as for a game of football, to visit a relative in hospital or to go to their kids' graduation," he said. "If there are accommodation shortages they will camp in the long grass.

"They're generally not the ones you have a problem with, a lot don't cause trouble or they get locked up once and then go home."

The job of policing anti-social behaviour among long-grassers involves targeting hot spots and responding to complaints.

There are at least 20 officers assigned to round up drunks on any given roster.

Supt Gordon said anti-social behaviour among long-grassers was visible because no licensed venues catered for them.

"Five years ago there were bars in the city with less strict dress codes that catered for Aboriginal drinkers," he said.

"Now these venues have gone more upmarket."

Supt Gordon said drunk long-grassers were taken in to protective custody for anti-social behaviour, and for their own protection.

"But 80 per cent of those brought in you never have a problem with and don't hear from again," he said.

Supt Gordon said some complaints about long-grassers were because they were expressive and loud.

"The problem is they're drinking where everyone can see them," he said.

Newshawk: http://www.napnt.org
Pubdate: Mon, 13 June 2005
Source: Northern Territory News (Australia)
Author: Greg McLean
Copyright: 2005 Northern Territory News
Contact: ntnmail@ntn.newsltd.com.au
Website: http://ntnews.news.com.au/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/283