In what must be close to a Territory- if not a national - record, The Groove Café in the Nightcliff shopping village has now been broken into 37 times in six years, four times in the last month, the second in four days. The cafe is just around the corner from Nightcliff’s Monday -Friday , 9-5pm , Clayton’s police station . Another Nightcliff village break in, not reported in the media , took place at the NT Council of Social Services office where about $250 was stolen Another shopkeeper patrols his shop at night with a dog . Recently Nightcliff shopkeepers have had to contend with an aggressive and argumentative person who was beaten off with a shop’s sandwich board in one confrontation and threatened to hit a man with a hammer .
Also causing comment and concern , is the person who for several weeks has been seen walking around the streets ranting at the top of his voice . Parap used to be his beat and, according to bizarre street gossip , believers in conspiracy theories say he knew so much embarrassing to the government that he was fed drugs to silence him ! The powers that be have not yet gained the clear message that a combined , new deployment of police , social welfare , mental health and other agencies is needed in Nightcliff as it is a focal point for a large area . Drive by policing is emphatically not working . What is laughably called the dry areas legislation is also not working. The graffiti on the old building at the back of the Nightcliff Woolworth’s shopping centre grows daily, one of its messages being FUCK DA POLICE , which has been in place for more than a year . Doors have been bashed in and there is widespread litter in the area.
Also causing comment and concern , is the person who for several weeks has been seen walking around the streets ranting at the top of his voice . Parap used to be his beat and, according to bizarre street gossip , believers in conspiracy theories say he knew so much embarrassing to the government that he was fed drugs to silence him ! The powers that be have not yet gained the clear message that a combined , new deployment of police , social welfare , mental health and other agencies is needed in Nightcliff as it is a focal point for a large area . Drive by policing is emphatically not working . What is laughably called the dry areas legislation is also not working. The graffiti on the old building at the back of the Nightcliff Woolworth’s shopping centre grows daily, one of its messages being FUCK DA POLICE , which has been in place for more than a year . Doors have been bashed in and there is widespread litter in the area.
