NT Police Association and business owners call for government's private security guard funds to be put into police

The Northern Territory Police Association is warning that using public funds to pay security staff, with a fraction of the training police have, to deal with violent public order situations is risking preventable deaths. Key points: The Police Association wants funding spent on private security to be redirected to police Some Darwin business owners would prefer police on the beat to security The NT government says private security plays an important role in supporting police The association is calling for the more than $2 million a year the NT government is using to fund security guards to patrol Darwin's city centre, the suburb of Karama and parts of Palmerston, to be diverted back into police resources. "Our fear is for the guards themselves, and also for members of the public, that someone's going to be seriously hurt or killed in doing this role," NT Police Association President Nathan Finn said. NT Police Commissioner Michael Murphy said the force would investigate any formal complaints it received about private security officers manhandling people in public places, or otherwise acting beyond the law. "We absolutely need a strong police force, and that is why we continue to support Northern Territory Police, but there is also the role for private security," she said.