Former assistant police commissioner Jeanette Kerr – who has been widely tipped by NT Police sources to replace Jamie Chalker as Commissioner – has been spearheading the government’s response to deep dissatisfaction in the NT Police ranks and the reorganisation of operational procedures to address youth crime, Chief Minister Natasha Fyles has said.

Ms Fyles said on Mix 104.9 Monday morning that Ms Kerr, who is currently deputy chief executive of the Department of Territory Families, Housing and Communities, has been in Alice Springs dealing with member’s issues and “doing detailed work to make sure that [police members] are supported”.

Ms Fyles was responding to questions about what her government is doing to address concerns raised in the recent NT Police Association survey that showed 80 per cent of police respondents had no faith in Mr Chalker to lead the force, while also raising concerns about low police morale, staffing issues and various other health and well-being concerns.

“Jeanette Kerr has done the deep dive in Alice Springs and we’re now shifting to also do a deep dive into the Casuarina area,” Ms Fyles said.

“So, we have a number of government and non-government services that work on the frontline and we need to make sure that they’re in a coordinated approach, that we’re just not leaving that all to our police officers.”

Ms Kerr had served in the NT Police force for 30 years, becoming the NT’s first female assistant police commissioner in 2015, before taking the role with Territory Families in late 2016.

That department was created following Labor’s election victory in 2016, with a focus on moving youth justice out of the corrections portfolio and into the newly created super-department, which was supported at the time by then-children’s commissioner and Ms Kerr’s friend Colleen Gwynne.

Ms Fyles said on Monday morning that Ms Kerr had also done an “enormous amount of work” in Alice Springs to reorganise the police’s approach to combatting youth crime.

“I was down there with her and the Police Minister [Kate Worden] last week, tying together the resources that we have making sure everybody is working together not in isolation, and making sure that we have a highly visible response that we’re engaging not only young people, but the other factors that lead to crime and antisocial behaviour,” she said.

It was unclear why Mr Chalker or any of his executive team would not have been involved in the reorganisation efforts, or if Ms Fyles forgot to mention his executive’s contribution.

“Going forward, it’s doing this deep dive. It’s engaging with some of the private property owners,” Ms Fyles said about the ongoing crime issues in Alice Springs.

“So what police support do we put in there to help them but equally, what are we doing to stop the problem before it escalates to being a police matter?

“There is a deep body of work around ensuring that police are supported in their role that the range of government and non-government services, and I can talk into detail but I’m conscious of time, but we have been doing that work just to make sure that we’re not letting it all fall to our police and they’re not in this constant cycle of picking up young people taking them home and then finding them a few hours later.”

Police sources have told the NT Independent speculation is rife that Ms Kerr will be announced as the new interim commissioner after Jamie Chalker either resigns or is sacked.

“Her and Kate Worden are good friends and neither like Chalker,” one source with knowledge of the situation said.

“She [Kerr] has already begun directing operational staff, as the Chief Minister said.”

An open recruitment process would need to be undertaken to replace Mr Chalker on a permanent basis once he vacates the role.

Ms Fyles also rejected the Opposition’s calls for an independent inquiry into the NT Police’s dysfunction and high crime rates on Monday, calling it an unnecessary “talk fest”.