Alice Springs community members react to youth curfew declaration ...

Some community members in Alice Springs are backing the Northern Territory government's two-week youth curfew in the town, while urging decision-makers to include Aboriginal people and look broadly at the town's long-running issues.

Concern over crime in Alice Springs reached boiling point on Tuesday when violent and chaotic scenes broke out across the CBD.

In response, on Wednesday afternoon, the NT government declared an emergency situation in the town and a two-week youth curfew between 6pm and 6am.

Nearly sixty extra police officers have also been deployed to Alice Springs.

Donna Ah Chee, the chief executive of the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress based in Alice Springs, said the emergency situation was a "required circuit breaker" which would lead to "immediate improvement".

Donna Ah Chee has backed the youth curfew in Alice Springs.(ABC News: Samantha Jonscher)

"[The situation] has further been caused by many years of lack of investment by successive governments, especially out bush, on the broader social determinants of the unacceptable behaviours we have seen from young people and related adults over recent days," she said.

"We need to ensure that if young people being taken home do not have a safe home to return to, that Family Responsibility Agreements are utilised, coupled with a Targeted Family Support Service. Parents need to take responsibility."

Leo Abbott, an Arrernte man from Alice Springs, said  he believed the curfew was a "good thing", but that he wanted to see consultation between authorities and elders.

"A lot of our cultural leaders have had their feathers pulled right out, that's the biggest thing, so how do we start getting our people to be empowered?" he told ABC Radio Alice Springs.

"Their voice hasn't been there for a while, so it's about empowering people to be able to work with police, work with the town and look at the town's safety.

"It's about doing something positive now, [and] it's been a long time coming. It brings a lot of shame to a lot of community people when they see their families acting this way."

Leo Abbott wants to see traditional owners and cultural leaders empowered.(ABC News: Steven Schubert)

Mr Abbott said solutions needed to be found with cultural leaders.

"And this is why we need to sit down and talk. It's about not condoning violence. It's about education," he said.

Arrernte traditional owner Doris Stuart said visitors to Alice Springs needed to "respect the place".

"If you're coming in here to visit, just respect our place like I would on their place," she said.

"Let people start to look at community safety, a bit more consultation and so on, so everybody in the town can be safe and people can see then, that the town of Alice Springs is working together."

However, Jared Sharp, the principal legal officer of the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA), said the curfew was a "knee-jerk" response.

Jared Sharp is not in favour of the youth curfew.(ABC News: Ian Redfearn)

He said the curfew would punish young people, and instead pointed to initiatives such as community courts and Indigenous justice groups as long-term solutions.

"These are the types of initiatives that are needed that have cultural integrity at their heart," he said.

"That's what's needed in the Northern Territory, not more police and law and order responses which are just going to be punitive and heavy-handed and are just going to see a criminalisation of young people."

Michael Murphy and Eva Lawler arrived in Alice Springs on Thursday morning following unrest in the town.(ABC News: Dane Hirst )

NT Chief Minister Eva Lawler said the youth curfew she had declared in Alice Springs was "but one measure" the government could use to address crime issues, after she flew to the town on Friday morning.

Ms Lawler said she was in Alice Springs to talk to residents and organisations about the curfew and her government's broader plan for the town.

"The decision yesterday [to introduce a curfew] was made quickly and it was based on sound legal advice," she said.

"It gives me the opportunity today to meet with a range of people in Alice Springs to have the conversation, to talk to them about what the curfew means for them in Alice Springs and our vision and our direction for our government."

Ms Lawler defended the timing of the curfew when asked if the government had moved too late, amid long-running social issues in Central Australia and increased incidences of youth offending.

She said the chaos that spread through the town on Wednesday had been "the final straw".

"The issues around crime … in Central Australia are complicated issues," she said.

"The incidents that we saw over the last day or so, that was truly the final straw from this community, which was why we acted decisively to bring in the curfew. "

She said the curfew "wasn't the solution to everything in Alice Springs".

"The curfew is but one measure. There will continue to be a range of complex issues in Alice Springs that we as a government and our non-government organisations continue to address in Alice Springs.

"There has never been a silver bullet in Alice Springs, there is no magic wand you can wave in Alice Springs to sort these issues."

The Todd Tavern in Alice Springs was attacked on Tuesday.(Supplied)

NT Police Commissioner Michael Murphy, who arrived in Alice Springs with Ms Lawler on Thursday morning, said police now had extra powers "to control movement and unlawful conduct in the CBD district".

"[This is] where we've seen events occur over the last month that need some more attention," he said.

"The main objective is to suppress that and make sure that sort of offending does not occur."

Nearly 60 extra police officers were due to arrive in Alice Springs on Thursday, but Commissioner Murphy said the increased powers and presence of police in the town did not mean they were looking to act punitively.

"It's incredibly important that this isn't just a policing or enforcement issue. The fact that the curfew exists doesn't mean that we're going to start locking up kids," he said.

"The objective is to keep kids out of the criminal justice system relating to a curfew.

"But if they do commit violent crime they will be arrested and taken to the court where they can answer to the judge and go through the justice system."

He said Alice Springs "needed support" and its residents needed to "feel safe … and the crime level addressed and dealt with".

"You'll see some really sharp action from police and some really high visibility engagement," he said.