A proposal is before the Northern Territory government to trial a dog squad in Alice Springs in a bid to curb rising levels of crime and make the town safer.
It comes as Police Minister Kate Worden announced she had requested greater "police visibility" in the Central Australian town following a desperate plea for immediate action from Central Australia's peak tourism body.
Private firm Neptune Security Services submitted the proposal to the NT government suggesting a six-month trial involving a five-person team and two dogs.
Dogs to 'protect' officers
Neptune operations manager Chris Harris said the dogs would primarily be used to protect the security officers.
"I understand that there's a lot of concern at the moment in relation to how those dogs will be utilised on the ground," he said.
"Those dogs aren't going to be utilised in the sense of chasing or hurting or maiming the public.
"We're very much members of this community ourselves. We take a lot of pride in this sort of space."
The firm is already delivering a similar service in Darwin as part of a Public Order Response Unit in several areas across the city, which Mr Harris said was producing positive results.
"We'd like to think that the impact that we've had in that space has seen a significant change within the feel and in the environment of the community," he said.
"[In the first month of operating], officers were presented with situations that were quite alarming and concerning, however, with the ongoing relationships that we've built with the people on the ground … we're slowly starting to see a positive turn.
"Our concern is that while we understand that government is slowly rolling out initiatives to see this level of change, we'd like to think that we can provide ourselves as a solution to try to bring the residents back out to enjoy our city."
Mr Harris said Neptune's proposal was designed to be a "supplementary force" to the police and provide an extra layer of support.
Police minister rejects crime is at 'crisis' levels
On Thursday, Kate Worden met with stakeholders in Alice Springs at a forum hosted by Tourism Central Australia (TCA). TCA chief executive Danial Rochford has said the government "has lost control of this town from a crime and safety and lawlessness perspective".
Ms Worden rejected that the rate of crime in Alice Springs was at "crisis" levels, but said the state of affairs was "not good enough".
"My heart is absolutely in Alice Springs, and so we are working to try to diminish all of that [anti-social behaviour]," she said.
"I think everybody's aware that, at the pointy end of crime, work needs to get going.
"But the really important stuff is all about making sure that everybody's coordinated and on the same page, and really working hard with families and kids and adults."
Ms Worden said she had met with senior police following discussions with TCA, and had "very specifically" asked for a greater police presence in Alice Springs.
"I'm really willing to see what we could work collaboratively together to do [with TCA], and they have asked me very clearly they want to see higher visibility of police and now I've asked for that," she said.
"I took that opportunity to engage with a number of very senior police officers, and yesterday, myself and [Assistant Commissioner, Regional and Remote Operations] Martin Dole had a discussion, and I have directly asked for that to happen."
Ms Worden denied the abolition of long-term alcohol bans in July — in place under the Stronger Futures legislation — was a significant factor in the current rate of crime in Alice Springs.
