A petition calling for Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker to be sacked has passed more than 9,000 signatures, while yesterday Chief Minister Michael Gunner said he was an “outstanding” commissioner, when asked if police officers supported the top cop in the wake of the not guilty verdict in the Constable Zach Rolfe trial.

The change.org petition, which had more than 9,300 signatures last night, but which comes with no official power, states Mr Chalker must be sacked immediately because “he has, and continues to” bring the NT Police force “into disrepute”.

“Under Mr Chalker’s leadership, NT Police attrition rates have doubled. In a survey conducted by NTPA more than 70 per cent of police officers surveyed said they were unhappy with the current direction of the NT Police force, have issues with the leadership, and felt unsupported by senior executive police management,” the petition states

The petition was created by Ameena Fomin, the creator and administrator of the Support NT Police Facebook group, whose husband is an NT Police officer.

“The group has over 7000 members, and members contacted me directly and asked me to start the petition,” she said.

“Many were too scared to put their name to it, for fear of being targeted. I started the petition, I am no one and this is for everyone. This is the people’s petition.

“More than 9000 digital signatures after five days tells me I did the right thing starting it.”

NT Police media manager Rob Cross, NTPA media manager Kieran Banks, and Police Minister Nicole Manison’s media adviser Alex Cannon did not response to questions about the petition.

The petition also references Mr Chalker not disclosing the existence of two coronial reports to the court by the highly respected Coronial Senior Investigating Officer Detective Superintendent Scott Pollock. Constable Rolfe’s defence team was forced to issue a subpoena for it after becoming aware of it ahead of the Supreme Court trial and then only received a redacted report.

Ms Manison was asked why the hiding of those reports was not grounds for Mr Chalker having his contract terminated.

Official figures released by the NTPA on Monday show one NT Police officer has left the force every two days across late November to mid February, keeping the attrition rate to a level that is about double what it was in the 2019-2020 financial year.

In a media statement NTPA president Paul McCue referred to the last almost two years as having “one of the greatest resignation rates of police officers in NT history”, but which he blamed Mr Gunner for, not Mr Chalker.

Mr McCue, despite having completed the survey that was highly critical of the top brass, has not criticised Mr Chalker at any point since the not guilty verdict.

In a interview on ABC radio yesterday, Mr Gunner was asked if Mr Chalker has the support of police officers.

“I believe so. He’s an outstanding police commissioner,” he said. “He worked his way up from the ground, from the bush.

“He has significant experience when it comes to working within our police force. I believe police know that, and they know the commissioner personally as well as professionally.

“I think he’s an outstanding commissioner.”

He was then told the Northern Territory Police Fire and Emergency Services, which Mr Chalker leads, had the most negative responses out of all public service departments in the annual People Matter survey of public servants.

Mr Gunner said “a large chunk of morale issues” had to do with officer fatigue and lack of holidays because of the police role in dealing with COVID-19.

In mid-October, the NTPA’s 2021 member survey showed more Territory cops were seeking a job outside the NT than ever before, with officers citing management issues as their reason for leaving.

Of more than 531 respondents, 60 per cent or 318 police officers have either applied or are considering applying for a job outside of the NT Police, doubling attrition rates since last year.

In another concerning finding, 64 per cent of officers surveyed said morale is “low or very low”.

The petition also mentions Mr Chalker refusing to discipline his Deputy Commissioner Murray Smalpage after he live-streamed himself suggesting the collective noun for police was a ‘murder’ when Constable Rolfe was facing the murder charge over the shooting death of Kumanjayi Walker in Yuendumu in 2019.

It also referenced Mr Chalker playing golf interstate for the final week of the trial, and that he then severed the NT Police’s 30-year relationship with the Rotary Club Darwin after it included Constable Rolfe in its police officer of the year voting.