An extra 75 auxiliary police officers will be trained as liquor inspectors and posted in front of bottle shops to help combat alcohol-fuelled violence in the Northern Territory.
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Chief Minister Michael Gunner says the extra inspectors will be backed by more operational staff and prosecutors in a special unit within NT police.
He says the government will provide almost $12 million in annual funding for the unit that will also allow frontline police to return to core policing roles.
"Every Territorian has the right to feel safe and expect their homes, businesses and property to be secure," Mr Gunner said in a statement on Monday.
"We have seen how destructive excessive consumption of alcohol is in the Northern Territory, particularly in relation to child neglect and the exposure of children to domestic violence."
The 75 new auxiliary inspectors will be recruited over the next 12 months and then located in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek and Katherine.
Their appointments will allow for 36 police officers to return to other frontline duties.
The government's new unit will also include 12 police officers based in Darwin and Palmerston who will focus on the secondary supply of alcohol.
Australian Associated Press
