By Ross Martin

“…Police are the custodian of integrity and we need to have the trust of the community in everything that we do…,” – NT Police Assistant Commissioner Bruce Porter, while giving evidence at the Kumanjayi Walker coronial inquest.

“…Integrity is the core to being a police officer. So we are the ones that have to demonstrate integrity and honesty at all times, as per our oath…”

OPINION: As a former sergeant, and a police officer of 23 years, and resident of the Northern Territory, I believe Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker is not a fit to hold his position in the Northern Territory Police force.

And I want Police Minister Kate Worden to know he needs to be dismissed from the position of Police Commissioner as a public interest dismissal in accordance with S78 of the NT Police Administration Act.

As outlined in the legislation, a member may be immediately dismissed from NT Police where the Commissioner is of the opinion the member has committed a breach of discipline and it is in the public interest that the member be immediately dismissed.

The position of Police Commissioner in any jurisdiction is one of the highest positions of trust and respect that a person can hold. In the NT, it is perhaps even more so as the role is also that of the Fire Service and Emergency Services chief executive officer.

It is a position that calls for a person of the utmost integrity, professionalism and intelligence.

Unfortunately, the current Commissioner ticks none of these boxes, and has demonstrated his lack of suitability for the position almost from his first day in the role as Commissioner.

There is a relatively recent precedent in the Northern Territory, in January of 2015, of the government of the day dismissing the Police Commissioner, when the then-acting chief minister Peter Chandler requested the resignation of John McRoberts from the position of Commissioner.

In requesting McRobert’s resignation Mr Chandler said: “The government has lost confidence in Mr McRoberts and his position has become untenable…”

It is appropriate for me to outline my understanding of, and experience in the machinations around a public interest police dismissal.

In April 2020, I was suspended without pay for producing a T-shirt to support Constable Zachary Rolfe after he had been charged with the murder of Mr Walker during an attempted arrest.

On the front of the shirt was written, “3638, not guilty S28 & 29 NTCCA”, and the rear, “Don’t wanna get shot.. don’t stab a cop – Blue Lives Matter”.

The front of the shirt referred to Constable Rolfe’s registered number, and S28 & 29 NTCCA refer to the excuse provisions afforded in the NT Criminal Code Act for a police officer shooting someone.

The shirts were available for purchase, or as a gift to serving members of NT Police, not for the general public.

As we know, Constable Rolfe was acquitted of all charges with his defence team arguing he was acting in self-defence.

After 13 weeks suspension without pay I was advised that I had been dismissed from NT Police after proud, diligent and dedicated service.

My notice of dismissal noted three factors in justifying my public interest dismissal.

One was that I was wearing the T-shirt to work. The second was negative media attention brought by David Cole posting a screenshot of the garment on Facebook.

And the third was community concerns because Eddie Robertson told officers at the Yuendumu Police Station a lot of people in the community were upset by the shirt.

I am not asking the Police Minister to reverse the decision to dismiss me – I believe that it is beyond her authority – but what I am asking is the same criteria used to dismiss me be applied to Commissioner Chalker.

The Police Commissioner’s involvement in the charging Constable Zach Rolfe

I am the first to admit, the shooting of Mr Walker came so very, very early in Mr Chalker’s commissionership. I can understand it must have been a challenging, even daunting task for him, however this was the job that he put his hand up for.

One doesn’t have to be a biblical scholar to recognise and understand the phrase: “Cometh the hour, cometh the man…”

The Police Commissioner either lacked the wisdom to realise what an opportunity the shooting provided him, or he didn’t have the character and courage to seize the opportunity which chance had provided him.

“…There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune, omitted all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries, on such a sea we are now afloat and we must take the current when it serves or lose our ventures….”.

These words from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar are so appropriate to the situation Commissioner Chalker found himself in back in November 2019.

The shooting and the immediate aftermath were Commissioner Chalker’s chance to stand up and be a real commissioner, to lead his men, to take the flood.

Sadly, he missed his moment.

In the aftermath of the Constable Rolfe not-guilty verdict, Commissioner Chalker gave an interview in the NT News where he stated “he was shocked” when he learnt of the murder charge.

Mr Chalker told the media he had no involvement in the decision to lay the murder charge, and when asked why Constable Rolfe was charged so quickly Mr Chalker said: “I can’t give you an answer to that because I wasn’t involved in that.”

He said the decision to charge Constable Rolfe was a matter for the investigation team and the Department of Public Prosecutions.

“I was as shocked as anybody,” he said.

We now know that these words have the same ring of truth about them as those from former US President Bill Clinton: “I did not have sexual relations with that woman”.

In his now notorious, rambling and almost incoherent speech given on the steps of the Peter McAulay Centre on the same day that Constable Rolfe was acquitted, Commissioner Chalker stated words to the effect the truth would come out in the coronial.

How prophetic this statement has proven to be.

We now know beyond a shadow of reasonable doubt that Commissioner Chalker has misled us.

He has misled the government, misled the public, misled his colleagues, and has misled his own members; blatantly and deliberately misled us.

Thanks to testimony given in the coronial we now know that in the Commissioner’s office in the NAB building on the afternoon of November 13, 2019, Mr Chalker was present in a meeting with the rest of the executive including then-assistant commissioner Nick Anticich.

We know that key members of the joint management committee involved in the investigation of Mr Walker’s death, including case officer Superintendent Kirk Pennuto and the commissioned officer overseeing the whole investigation, Commander Martin Dole, were excluded from the meeting.

We know this meeting commenced at 3:34pm, and while we don’t how long this meeting lasted for, shortly after, a second meeting was held commencing at 3:47pm, a mere 13 minutes after the commencement of the first meeting.

This second meeting consisted of members including Deputy Commissioner Michael Murphy, Assistant Commissioner Michael White, Mr Anticich, Superintendent Kennedy, and Supt Pennuto, and Commander Dole.

It was at this meeting that Mr Anticich announced they were arresting Constable Rolfe.

It is totally beyond the bounds of credulity that any topic other than the arrest of Constable Rolfe was discussed in the first meeting. The meeting that we know that the Commissioner was present at.

Whether the Commissioner was an active participant in this meeting or not only those present know, however the fact is that he was present.

It just beggars belief that the Commissioner would not at least have asked the most basic of questions such as what evidence the investigators had, and he would have been told, the body worn footage.

“That’s it?” he would have asked.

“What about the excuse provisions afforded by S28 and 29, we haven’t addressed that yet?”

And he would have asked what Constable Rolfe had said, only to have been told investigators had not spoken to him.

The Commissioner had to be aware that Constable Rolfe was being charged on the strength of the body-worn footage alone.

Was Commissioner Chalker willing to allow one of his own members to be sent to the gallows on the strength of body-worn footage alone?

Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Sadly the hour came but the man was absent.

The good shepherd does not, when confronted by a pack of baying wolves, throw one of his flock to the pack to save himself and the rest of his flock.

The good shepherd shows courage and commitment to his flock and protects every last one of them, with his life if need be, yet one of Mr Chalker’s flock was being pursued by the wolves and he was willing to sacrifice him to the baying pack.

As stated, we now know beyond a shadow of reasonable doubt that the Commissioner has misled us when he stated he was “as shocked as anyone” when the charges of murder were laid against Rolfe.

We now know beyond a shadow of reasonable doubt that the Commissioner not only knew that murder charges were going to be laid against Constable Rolfe, he knew this before even the commissioned officer in charge of the case, Supt Pennuto, or the commissioned officer overseeing the whole investigation, Commander Dole knew.

In life in general, integrity matters, as Mr Porter stated.

For a police officer it is simply not negotiable to always act with the highest levels of integrity. The very highest levels.

The Police Minister must know Mr Chalker has clearly shown in his words and by his actions that he is a man who lacks the integrity required to be a police officer of any rank, let alone the Commissioner.

Integrity matters Minister Worden. Integrity matters. You need to sack Mr Chalker now.

I believe that the lack of integrity demonstrated by the Commissioner alone is more than grounds to dismiss him; however the criteria used to justify my dismissal needs to be applied to Commissioner Chalker as a public interest dismissal.

‘We’re coming for you’

In November of 2021, speaking after a rally against COVID-19 restrictions the Commissioner made comment in the media after it was alleged that protestors had thrown a substance at the police.

“To the individuals that threw liquid at the police officers … we’re coming for you,” Mr Chalker said at the time.

“We’ll forensically analyse what [the liquid] was … The members who were affected felt it was particularly hot and that it also had a bitter taste. It entered the mouths of a number of our officers and had an immediate effect of burning.”

In the end, charges against the protestor alleged to have thrown the “liquid” were dismissed because the evidence of what it was never produced to court.

There was no explanation as to what the forensic analysis of the substance was, however it is generally accepted that the capsicum spray that the police sprayed towards the protesters blew back onto them.

The Commissioner’s integrity was again called into question in continuing to blame protestors for what appears to be an accident which was the result of police actions.

A friend of mine, a senior operational safety and tactics training instructor advised me instruction in the use of OC spray now includes techniques to prevent members from being overcome by their own spray.

The negative media attention

I appreciate that social media is not necessarily an accurate barometer of public sentiment, however this was the barometer applied to me in justifying my dismissal.

Since Constable Rolfe’s charging there have been literally hundreds of posts on social media almost every one of them criticising Commissioner Chalker and his judgement.

Posts called for his dismissal and worse. I personally find some of the posts quite offensive in that they ridicule an organisation that I once served with such pride.

The Commissioner has turned the position from one of great dignity and respect to one of ridicule and derision, with posts depicting Commissioner Chalker as a clown, a dog, even as faeces.

The public now perceive the Commissioner as a clown, a clown without integrity who has perverted the course of justice.

The media has also been openly criticising Mr Chalker’s competence and integrity, including The Australian newspaper and respected commentators such as Peta Credlin, Vicki Campion and Andrew Bolt.

While NT MLA, and former NT Police officer Mark Turner is calling for a Royal Commission into the running of NT Police.

Staff confidence in the Commissioner

It is clear that the Commissioner, to use an Americanism, has lost the locker room.

An August poll of serving NT Police members found that an astonishing number – 80 per cent – of his own members who took part, stated they have no confidence in him as Commissioner.

It is important to note that this was not a popularity contest as some have suggested but a poll questioning whether members have confidence in the Commissioner’s ability to lead NT Police.

On radio, not long after the results of the survey were published, the Commissioner made light of these results stating that they really weren’t as bad as they looked.

I would have liked to ask the Commissioner a simple question: How did the results of the survey of no confidence in him compare with those of his predecessors?

The answer is simple, there was no vote of no-confidence in them.

A subsequent survey also highlighted that morale is in the gutter and that an enormous number of serving members are thinking of, or intend to, leave.

In fact, the current quoted attrition rate under Commissioner Chalker is an unbelievable 10 per cent. Simply unsustainable for such an organisation.

Very experienced and long serving former NT Police members are also now coming out and calling for Commissioner Chalker to be dismissed, including the likes of Sergeant Andrew Hockey, who had over 30 years of service.

I mentioned that Mr Chalker is also CEO of the NT Fire Service. The union for the Fire Service, the United Workers Union, has come out publicly and called for either Mr Chalker’s dismissal, or for the removal of the Fire Service from under the tri-service umbrella due to a lack of confidence in Mr Chalker from their members.

Public confidence in the Commissioner

There are an astounding number of negative posts from the public indicating that the public confidence in Mr Chalker is also very low.

I would also remind the minister of a public petition signed by almost 10,000 people, circulated on social media calling for the Commissioner to be dismissed.

Such a petition, I would suggest, is unprecedented in Australian history regardless of the result. Surely it is confirmation, if any were required, that not only do the Commissioner’s own staff have no confidence in him whatsoever, neither does the public.

The Commissioner himself cancelled the Rotary Police Officer of the year award in early 2022. The general perception, rightly or wrongly, is that this was a response to the views that Constable Rolfe had received a large number of votes for the award.

This action of cancelling the long running awards by the Commissioner is seen as petty, small minded and vindictive, not an action one would expect from the Police Commissioner.

It would be totally understandable if you thought that me calling for the Commissioner to be dismissed is motivated by the desire for revenge.

I can understand why someone would think this. However, it is not the truth.

I served NT Police with pride and diligence for 23 years and am very proud of my service. It was an organisation to which I was proud to say I belonged.

Such is no longer the case.

The motivation to speak out

In a recent conversation with a former NT Police assistant commissioner we both commented that NT Police is no longer the organisation that we once served.

NT Police used to be the very benchmark of police forces, in a very short time Mr Chalker has turned the position of Commissioner into one of ridicule and the organisation itself is but a shadow of the organisation both myself and the former assistant commissioner served.

One which members are currently queuing to leave.

I am not motivated by revenge at all, however I am motivated by something else.

To paraphrase the Iate Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal, I am motivated not by vengeance but justice.

Justice, not just for myself and Constable Rolfe, but also others who have been impacted by this terrible Chalker-led administration.

I include the likes of Sergeant Mark Casey, Sergeant Leith Philips, Carey Joy, and several others who I am currently not at liberty to name for fear of repercussions for them as they are still serving.

I am also seeking justice for the general public who are not currently getting the Police Force they want, need and deserve.

Ross Martin was born in New Zealand and was 38-years-old when his police training squad commenced and was the proud recipient of the PT award after previously training as a teacher. He began in general duties in Alice Springs and served three years in Borroloola, two years in Yulara before returning again to Alice Springs and working for two years in regional investigations.

Mr Martin was promoted to sergeant in 2009, and was transferred to the training college in Darwin, and was later appointed as the officer in charge of the Operational Safety and Tactics Training unit. In 2013, he returned to operational duties working as a supervisor in all three urban stations until his dismissal after 23 years in the force.