An outspoken businessman who brought attention to the pandemic of adolescent violence in his rural village has suffered another terrible setback.
Darren Clark, a frustrated owner of a bakery and café in Alice Springs, in the center of the Northern Territory, has had to deal with several assaults on the businesses he has operated as he has been recording the continued violence in the besieged town.
Early on Sunday morning, someone broke into and vandalized his bakery once again, doing at least $3,000 worth of damage in the process, including smashing windows, doors, and freshly installed blinds.
During the current crime wave, Mr. Clarke’s enterprises have been the subject of intrusion 42 times.
Even though he had his Facebook account briefly disabled, Mr. Clarke still published video of the most recent break-in.
In the video, Mr. Clark said, “New blinds are destroyed.”
He went inside the bakery to look at the damage, which included walls that had been kicked in and doors that were damaged.
Mr. Clark was left with a significant clean-up task in addition to a substantial damage charge since the kitchen floor was covered with baking supplies and equipment.
At 5.38 in the morning, he received the call from triple-0 alerting him that his bakery had been broken into.
The burglars created catastrophic pandemonium inside his bakery, and he waited seven minutes before an operator replied.
According to Mr. Clark, “They stood on a table and used a witches hat to shatter the glass so they could climb in.”
They “kicked through walls and searched areas they believed to contain keys and money.”
Moreover, “They left the freezer and cold room’s doors open.”
The angry businessman was so distraught that he was unable to face fixing all the damage in time to reopen his doors on Monday.
Mr. Clark worries that Alice Springs may soon become “unlivable” and is once again considering closing his business before he is targeted for the 43rd time.
He said, “I’m absolutely numb and emotionless; it’s sheer frustration.”
“The things I’ve seen and heard about in the town are horrible,” I said.
It will take a very long time to resolve the problems.
After Mr. Clark’s suspension from Facebook for “bullying and harassment” when he posted a video of two adolescent Aboriginal girls fighting on the Action for Alice page he manages, the most recent break-in took place days later.
Three years ago, he started the social media campaign that tracked the town in the outback’s crime wave.
Due to “bullying and abuse,” according to Mr. Clark, Facebook briefly banned his account over the video.
His account has been suspended for a month, but Action for Alice is still accessible online.
In the following days, Mr. Clark intends to create Action for Alice profiles on more social media networks.
He said that after Anthony Albanese’s recent “fly-in, fly-out” visit to the outback community, things had “gone back” to the way they had been.
After lifting alcohol restrictions for six months, the federal government promised a $250 million investment in community safety and services and reintroduced them.
According to Mr. Clark, “That $250 million isn’t going to the proper services that need it the most.”
The governments must be honest and forthright about the issue before attempting to address it if this issue is to be resolved.
The greatest way to rebuild is from nothing, so stop trying to keep us quiet.
Mr. Clark recently warned Brooke Boney of the Today program that if the problem isn’t resolved, “someone’s going to die here soon.”
The only person who has revealed the truth in this community is me, and if I were to reveal any more truth, no one would want to reside here, he cautioned.
In the last year, crime in Alice Springs has dramatically increased, according to worrying new statistics.
In a town of 26,000, assaults have increased by 51%, with 2823 documented cases.
Compared to Darwin, the state’s capital, the assault rate in Alice Springs was five times greater per person.
Alcohol-related attacks increased by 68%, while those involving domestic violence increased by 65%.
Domestic violence was documented in 1886 cases, while attacks involving alcohol were reported in 1521 cases.
The town also saw a significant increase in property damage (55%), as well as break-ins at businesses (47 per cent).
In addition to the problem, the neighborhood jail is overcrowded and housing convicted criminals in police stations.
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