Alice Springs: Fears of another snap lockdown for crime-riddled outback town after off-duty cops were assaulted by youths

An outback Australian town could be on the verge of another lockdown to combat a growing crime epidemic after four off-duty police officers were allegedly attacked.

The Northern Territory Police Commissioner is considering introducing the snap curfew in crime-ravaged Alice Springs following an alleged assault on Sunday.

One male and three female officers were allegedly assaulted by a gang of 20 male youths on the Todd River walkway in the Red Centre near the Stott Terrace bridge at about 2.15am on Sunday.

The off-duty officers were heading back to their hotel when they were approached from behind by the youths who allegedly proceeded to allegedly assault them.

One female officer was allegedly pulled to the ground and had her bag stolen, another female was allegedly punched in the face and kicked multiple times and had her mobile phone taken.

The male officer was also allegedly punched and kicked multiple times.

The group then left the area as the our off-duty officers returned to their accommodation where they contacted police.

Two of the female officers were taken to hospital to be treated for minor injuries.

NT Police Minister Brent Potter condemned the attack and confirmed the Territory's Police Commissioner Michael Murphy may introduce a 72-hour lockdown to restore order.

Mr Potter said the incident was 'criminal' and 'predatory in nature' and the four victims 'just so happened' to be police officers.

He said Commissioner Murphy is considering every option and a decision would be made on Monday. 

'I can tell you right now he is looking at the curfew,' Mr Potter said.

Mr Potter said it had been a 'horror 72 hours' in Alice Springs, following an alleged stabbing in the CBD, and  police officer was run over outside a bottle shop. 

Sunday's shocking incident comes after new legislation was introduced in May by Chief Minister Eva Lawler granting the Police Commissioner the power to enforce snap 72-hour lockdowns.

A three-week nightly curfew was imposed in April, banning youths from Alice Spring's CBD between 6pm and 6am.

A curfew was imposed on youth in Alice Springs for 14 days in late March, after 150 people allegedly rioted through the streets.

Northern Territory Police Commissioner Michael Murphy said in April he had observed a noticeable decrease in crime around the town's centre following the introduction of the curfew.

'We saw some burglaries in the suburbs and in some commercial premises but not on the same scale that we've seen previous to the curfew,' Mr Murphy said.

'The feedback from police officers and extra support providers has been overwhelmingly positive.'

Northern Territory Police urge anyone who witnessed Sunday morning's incident on  to contact Crime Stoppers.