Letter to the editor: Some questions for the Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker | NT Independent

Letter to the editor: Some questions for the Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker

by | Mar 19, 2022 | Opinion | 0 comments

Dear Editor,

I have attempted to refrain from making public comment since the conclusion of the Supreme Court trial of Constable Rolfe on Friday, March 11.

However the Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker’s public comment that afternoon left me dumbfounded and disappointed given his speech was no better than a robotic oration of what appeared to be a poorly worded group of disjointed paragraphs. Certainly not something you would expect from a leader of 1600 police officers and associated fire and emergency service personnel.

Mr Chalker has then followed up with a public letter on Tuesday, touching on some of the topics one would have thought he should have spoken to the previous Friday. The fact he issued a written statement is perhaps evidence he is concerned with facing the media and the possibility of having to answer some difficult questions pertaining to his leadership or lack thereof?

A couple of points I would like to make about the actions of this commissioner over the last week, and which I am sure every police officer in the Northern Territory would like an answer to, I certainly do, and I am unfortunately no longer a serving officer.

Why, sir, did you choose to play golf in South Australia during the final week of one of the highest profile court cases (since Falconio) involving a serving police officer of ‘your’ NT Police force?

I understand you may have booked this excursion some time ago, however surely you would have been aware of this court case, and cancelled your attendance to provide leadership during a critical period for ‘your’ officers?

Or perhaps your desire to play golf outweighs your duty to ‘your’ officers?

Why would you not choose to remain in Darwin during this time?

Why did you not remain to answer questions from the media on Friday afternoon?

Was it because you were concerned that there were going to be interstate journalists who would ask the hard questions which local journalists (NT Independent excepted) would not ask?

Where is the transparency the NT Police media unit is so quick to talk about, but we never get?

I would also like to point out that yes, police do a difficult job.

Police (we) are trained to run towards danger and not away from it. We are trained to go into situations the public hopefully never get to see. And this is not something to be boastful about. It is our job. It is who and what we are. We, the police officers on the ground do this job because we want to serve our community. I say again, it is our job.

So, commissioner, do not try to deflect from the big issues of the past week by stating the obvious of what police do.

What we want and expect of a Commissioner of Police is to speak to the difficult topics, provide leadership and reassurance to not only your officers but the public. Your role is to reassure and guide and build confidence in your leadership and ultimately the police force for the community in which it serves.

But I have seen none of that. What I have seen is someone who demands the respect of his officers and who is only interested in listening to his own rhetoric.

Finally, I note with some interest in your open letter, presumably to the public of the Northern Territory, that you are proud of your people, and you are proud to be the Commissioner of Police and chief executive officer of the Fire and Emergency Services.

Well, that may be, but you have presided over the greatest loss of experience this police force has ever sustained and possibly may be even more detrimental than the four year period of zero recruitment during the reign of Commissioner Mick Palmer in the mid 1990s, which is still impacting

Your ego, or perhaps delusion, is astounding and if I was still serving in this police force you would certainly not be ‘my’ commissioner.

Leith Phillips, Ex-NT Police sergeant


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