00:00A $12 million police station sits dormant across the road from where 71-year-old supermarket
00:08owner Lynford Fike was stabbed to death last week.
00:12We just don't feel safe at all.
00:15The Nightcliff police station was a 2016 election promise opened in 2021 by the former Labor
00:22government who pledged it would have capacity for 24-7 patrols.
00:27When it was built we weren't provided additional staffing to resource that 24-7.
00:31Many in the area are now asking why.
00:34Police station opened, we thought we were getting a 24-7 police station and we didn't.
00:39Since then crime has escalated in this area and we don't have any police presence at all.
00:46I understand the police are under enormous strain and they themselves are saying we cannot arrest
00:51our way out of this.
00:52So why build a police station to give people a false hope?
00:55So it's kind of adding to the hurt that people are feeling like we thought this would make
01:00us safe and it's not.
01:02We understand the concerns that exist within the Nightcliff community.
01:06The Nightcliff environment has changed for various reasons over the recent past and police
01:11provide as much proactive resourcing into that area as we possibly can.
01:16NT police insist that even if the Nightcliff station was fully operational, it wouldn't have
01:21made a difference to their response time following Mr Fyke's stabbing last Wednesday.
01:26The way in which this particular incident transpired was such that it happened very quickly and
01:33police could have been almost standing up front of that shop and this still may have occurred.
01:37Business owners here in Nightcliff say they feel let down and lied to by the previous government
01:43over the promise that this would one day be a 24-7 police station.
01:47They also now say it's up to the current government to make the call to man this facility full time.
01:54It needs to open, it needs to be running 24-7 as promised.
01:57Simple as that.
01:58Get it done Leah.
02:00The NT government says it will hold meetings with police about the future of the Nightcliff station,
02:05but hasn't yet made any commitment to staffing it properly.
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