Officers with the NT Police’s Territory Response Group were sent to Alice Springs over the weekend to assist with the town’s current crime surge that appeared to continue unabated, with a woman having her face slashed with glass in the street early Sunday morning, teens stealing a taxi, another woman being assaulted by two men and a man being knocked unconscious with a weapon the night before.

NT Police issued a statement on Saturday to announce it was deploying TRG members, as well as the search and rescue unit, to assist the 20 officers involved in Operation Ludlow. It was unclear if the TRG officers would be in tactical response gear or sent out on patrols as general duties officers, with the unit facing criticism for its handling of racist award certificates.

Police pledged to add further officers to the town this week, while somehow not affecting general duties officers from other parts of the Northern Territory, the statement said.

“The high-visibility policing will be in operation over the Christmas-New Year period and beyond and we will continue to work closely with the Department of Children and Families Engagement Officers, Public Housing Safety Officers, Lhere Artepe Traditional Owner Patrols and Tangentyere Council Night Patrol members,” Commander James Gray-Spence said.

“I also urge anyone with any knowledge of the offences carried out [over the weekend] to contact police on 131 444 or make an anonymous report to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.”

Mr Gray-Spence running operations in Alice Springs is an unusual choice for police, given his involvement as one of five senior police officers who misled the Coroner at the inquest into the death of Kumanjayi Walker about the nature of racist awards the TRG unit handed out to each other.

Mr Gray-Spence told Coroner Elisabeth Armitage in a sworn statement earlier this year the awards, that included an award certificate with an Aboriginal flag as a backdrop, a man in blackface graphic, as well as one award for the “most coon-like BBQ ever” and another Noogudah award given to a drunk officer for displaying the “utmost level of Aboriginality while being an elite member of the TR[G]”, had no racial connotations.

The ICAC’s flawed investigation into the awards and possible criminal conduct of the five lying officers found “no admissible evidence” to continue to investigate the officers for the racist awards and lying to the court, which led to the Central Land Council and the Northern Land Council both calling for a proper investigation into the extent of racism in the NT Police, which has been rejected by the police executive and the CLP Government.

Reports over the weekend showed a number of violent crimes were still being committed while police attempt to restore order to the town that was thrust again into the national spotlight last week, after two teens on bail broke into a home in broad daylight and assaulted a mother and eight-week-old baby, fracturing the baby’s skull and causing bleeding on the brain.

The teens were arrested and have been charged with a string of offences.

Crime surge continues in Alice Springs

Police said on Sunday that a 20-year-old woman was knocked to the ground by four other females outside a bar on Barrett Drive, who then proceeded to assault the woman, including one using a broken glass to cut the woman’s face.

Police are still looking for the offenders, while the victim was taken to hospital.

At 2:25am on Saturday, two males were involved in an argument on Todd Street that ended when one of the men struck the other in the head with a blunt weapon, knocking him unconscious.

Police are still looking for that alleged offender.

In another incident, between 3:30am and 4 am on Saturday, two men approached a woman riding her bike along Larapinta Drive, near the intersection of Zeil Street where they pulled the woman off her bike demanding money before attempting to steal her bag. The victim attempted to flee the scene on foot but the men reportedly pursued her, where they assaulted her at the intersection of Bokhara Street and Engoordina Drive, near where the baby was assaulted in the home invasion last week.

Police are also still seeking those offenders and are asking anyone with information, including the driver of a white ute that drove past the alleged robbery to contact them on 131 444, quoting reference number NTP2400127144.

In yet another incident, police arrested six youths after they allegedly stole a taxi and drove it dangerously through the Alice Springs CBD around 11pm Saturday night.

“A co-ordinated police pursuit involving members from Strike Force Viper, TRG, Operation Ludlow, the Drone Unit and general duties members was initiated. The pursuit resulted in the stolen taxi being apprehended via the successful deployment of tyre deflation devices on Stott Terrace,” Detective Senior Sergeant Marcus Becker said.

“Six youth offenders fled the vehicle, and all were apprehended after a short foot chase.

“Five male offenders aged 12, 13, 14, 14, 14, and a 15-year-old female, were taken into custody. Two are expected to be charged with property and traffic related offences to appear in court at a later date. Four of the youths have been dealt with under the provision of the Youth Justice Act.”

Police Commissioner Michael Murphy did not enact a curfew for Alice Springs last week, despite having the powers to do so. He attended Alice Springs for a couple of hours on Thursday morning with Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro before leaving for planned leave in Singapore.

Police media director Mark Wilton said the decision not to enact a curfew for Alice Springs was unrelated to Mr Murphy’s scheduled leave, as the powers of the Commissioner are delegated to the Acting Commissioner, in this case Martin Dole, who could order a curfew under existing legislation.