‘Safety division’ cops brought in to Alice Springs to tackle crime wave as new data shows residents are packing up and leaving the outback town

Property data shows Alice Springs locals are leaving the crime wave-hit city in droves, as the NT government takes the unusual step of deploying a brand new police force to keep order.

The Alice Springs Territory Safety Division (TSD) will soon become a permanent fixture in the Northern Territory’s second-largest city, the government announced this week.

Eighteen officers will be deployed to the unit and will be tasked with responding quickly to public order situations.

The announcement coincides with data from Realestate.com showing 284 vacant properties listed for the city of 25,000 — more than double what would be considered a “strong market.”

“This is a very high number,” Lindsay Carey of the Real Estate Institute NT told Alice Springs News.

NT Police Minister Brent Potter said the new Red Center police force will focus on anti-social behavior as the government tries to curb rampant crime and entice residents to stay.

Police Minister Brent Potter (right) said this week that the new Red Center police force will focus on anti-social behavior as the government tries to curb rampant crime

This new unit will join the 52 elite police officers already operating out of Darwin, bringing the total number of officers working in the area to 70.

“The Territory Labor Government is establishing a specialist Alice Springs Territory Safety Division to protect Red Center residents and reduce crime and anti-social behaviour,” Potter said.

“We are investing more in the Northern Territory Police than ever before, more officers, better technology, additional resources and new strategies to keep Territorial citizens safe.”

Mr Potter had previously announced in April that funding for the TSD would increase by $16 million year-on-year.

Dates have yet to be announced for the new police force, but organizer assistant commissioner Janelle Tonkin will get to choose who makes up the team.

The Alice Spring TSD will also receive four new operational vehicles, the minister added.

Locals had previously told Daily Mail Australia they were living in fear and forced to hide indoors as children as young as five rioted in the streets.

When police were called, they said, no one answered and when they did, they were told officers were too busy elsewhere to attend.

Locals have told Daily Mail Australia they are afraid to go outside and police are often too busy to respond (pictured, crime in Alice Springs)

Currently, elite police must board a two-hour flight from Darwin to Alice Springs before they can respond to any criminal activity in the Red Center (photo, crime in Alice Springs)

Police response times in Alice Springs will improve significantly with the new unit, as previously members had to be deployed from Darwin in times of crisis.

This hampered any immediate response due to a two-hour flight that officers had to make before they could reach the incident.

Environment communities such as Tennant Creek will also likely be served by Alice Spring’s TSD.

From July the unit’s headquarters will be located there based at Nightcliff Police Station in Darwin.