Jamie Chalker’s time as Police Commissioner – which may or may not be over as the government has refused to confirm – was defined by the aftermath of Kumanjayi Walker’s shooting death, with serious questions about his integrity raised, including the hiding of key evidence in the Zach Rolfe murder trial, and questions about the integrity and morale of the force under his leadership.
In this series, we showcase the reporting on his chaotic reign as top cop, bringing together all the failings, the lies, the alleged conspiracies, and mystifying public utterances, of him and those around him.
Today, we look at how some more of the gaffes, the resignations, the failings to properly train officers at the police college and the covering-up of information that should have been public but was suppressed to benefit Jamie Chalker’s political motivations – including domestic violence cases.
READ: Tarnished Brass: Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker’s career saved from a housing wreck
READ: Tarnished Brass V: ICAC announces investigation into Rolfe murder charge
READ: Tarnished Brass VI: Vote of no confidence in Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker
READ: Tarnished Brass VIII: Police pursued Rolfe murder charge against DPP witness advice
Monday, June 21, 2021
Chalker claims police college’s failings are being addressed, offers no evidence: Estimates
Jamie Chalker admitted at Estimates hearings that the police college had failed to meet national standards but it was working towards addressing its non-compliance issues that saw unqualified instructors employed and recruits graduated before being properly assessed for competency.
It was the first time Mr Chalker has discussed the college following the NT Independent revealing it had failed a 2017 external audit to gauge its compliance with national standards and was still hiring unqualified instructors as late as October 2019.
Mr Chalker said the college was undergoing “some treatments” after failing the audit, which had found the college employed unqualified instructors, failed to keep proper records of recruit training and could not determine who its managers were or if they were “fit and proper” people.
The audit also found recruits were graduated despite failing basic literacy and numeracy tests and that the college could not explain why it had passed some recruits.
An internal document from October 2019, showed the college had not improved two years after failing the audit and did not have a process for verifying if its instructors were qualified.
Monday, June 21, 2021
Police brass launch operation to find leaks to the NT Independent: Chalker
Mr Chalker confirmed the NT Police had launched an official investigation into the NT Independent after a series of articles exposed massive failures by the police brass, including sexual assaults not being publicly reported and the police college using unqualified instructors.
Mr Chalker confirmed the investigation at Estimates hearings after being asked by independent MLA Robyn Lambley if police were investigating leaks to the NT Independent.
“If a criminal offence is occurring, then I believe it’s appropriate that we undertake an investigation and the unlawful release of information, that is information that is not lawful to release, is a criminal offense,” he told Estimates.
“I’m quite confident that if the NT Independent has no criminality to be concerned about, then it shouldn’t be an issue that should cause them any concern.”
It was one of two investigations Mr Chalker launched against this paper, and then quietly dropped with no results.
Multiple sources had informed the NT Independent about the operation. Those sources, and one well-placed outside the police force but inside government, told the NT Independent they believed the police executive could be trying to access phone records of editorial staff in an attempt to catch sources. Several have also raised the possibility police would be surveilling editor Chris Walsh, reporter David Wood and owner Owen Pike to see who they were meeting.
Yet another source said he was sceptical that would be happening but the executive would be working furiously within their ranks to flush out who is responsible.
Three weeks earlier, a group of sergeants were told anyone found speaking to the NT Independent, and allowing vital information to be made public, would be sacked, another source told the paper.
Monday, September 20, 2021
No investigation into Smalpage’s social media gaffe, no disciplinary action: Chalker
Mr Chalker ruled out any disciplinary action against Deputy Commissioner Murray Smalpage after Mr Smalpage accidentally live-streamed himself to social media making controversial comments, stating that if the “people in the world were much kinder to one another, we would be in a far better place”.
Mr Chalker issued a statement in which he said that it was clear Mr Smalpage did not intend to have his comments, including saying that a group of police officers should be called “a murder”, broadcast publicly and therefore no action would be taken against him for what he said.
“The statement that appears to have caused the most offence is one which Deputy Commissioner Smalpage has been up front about owning and stating his clear position that he did not intend to cause such offence,” he said.
“Deputy Commissioner Smalpage has taken ownership of his statements in the workplace and put out a public statement on Sunday morning.”
However, Mr Smalpage had the police media unit issue a statement on Sunday with a qualified apology “if my remarks were construed in any other way”.
The statement was only issued after the recording had been shared across social media over the weekend, not when it was first broadcast some time last week.
The “murder” comment was viewed as offensive by some NT police officers and members of the public who suggested that Mr Smalpage was poking fun of Constable Zach Rolfe who was then charged with murder over the shooting death of Kumanjayi Walker in Yuendumu in 2019.
NT Police Association president Paul McCue called for Mr Smalpage to be stood aside while an investigation was conducted into his comments, how they were broadcast and the impacts for reputational damage to the NT Police force.
He called on Mr Chalker to show leadership and explain “what action he intends to take given the reputational damage to the police force following the careless release of this video”. Of course, Mr Chalker displayed no such leadership.
Tuesday, October 12, 2021
NT Police officers leaving in record numbers citing poor management as reason
More Territory cops are seeking a job outside the NT than ever before, according to the NT Police Association’s 2021 member survey, 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 serious finding, 64 per cent of officers surveyed said their morale is “low or very low”.
The majority of officers raised concerns around the police force’s current management, with more than 70 per cent saying 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.
Nearly half cited the murder charges against Constable Rolfe in the shooting death of Kumanjayi Walker in Yuendumu as their reason for wanting to leave the police force.
Wednesday, October 13, 2021
Another NT Police Assistant Commissioner resigns amid turmoil in force
NT Police assistant commissioner Dr Narelle Beer resigned – making her the third of the Territory’s top brass to resign in 2021 – citing alleged bullying, sources said, adding that she felt “used” by the executive over the charging of Constable Rolfe in 2019.
Several well-placed sources told the NT Independent the assistant commissioner for regional and remote operations resigned and was on sick leave with no intention of returning.
One source described the current situation of low morale in the force as a “tinderbox”.
“She was bullied by other executives,” one source said.
“None of them would speak to her. They would only send emails, and she was seeing all the abuse of power and can’t stand it.”
A source said Ms Beer was unhappy when other NT Police executives oversaw the charging of Constable Rolfe after Ms Beer had arranged for him to be flown from Alice Springs to Darwin on November 13, 2019.
At the time, NT Police said they held concerns for the officer’s safety, which necessitated the transfer, but instead used the opportunity to charge him with murder over the shooting death of Kumanjayi Walker.
Thursday, November 25, 2021
Chalker did not disclose police bailed DV murderer days before he incinerated wife: sources
Mr Chalker gave an emotional speech to an anti-domestic violence breakfast about a woman who was horrifically set on fire by her husband earlier in the month, using the woman’s death as a tragic example of domestic violence, lamenting that it had not made national headlines, but failing to tell the audience the man had been bailed by police three days before the homicide after breaching a domestic violence order against her.
“What I want to say to everyone in this room, and the Northern Territory community is, you will not silence me,” he said during his speech.
His words came despite the fact that NT Police had published three press releases, none of which gave even a hint as to the real nature of the act against the woman. The first release referred to the tragedy simply as a structure fire. The reality of the situation was first reported in the NT Independent.
Outside Mr Chalker’s speech a month after the attack, and a few comments on Alice Springs ABC Radio, police have never made the real details of the death public.
He also lamented that police did not know what the woman was facing the night she was set on fire on November 5.
“That victim, only hours earlier, sent a text message to her young daughter, that said, ‘Today, your Dad is going to kill me. I love you. Please don’t cry for me’,” he said.
“And we didn’t know. And her community didn’t know. We need to do things far better. To have a victim feel so helpless, but her thoughts were to try and provide some level of support and comfort to her child, knowing what then sadly transpired.
“As a group we should never be silent about this. But we have to take a more proactive action. We have to call it out on every occasion. We have to be more supportive.”
What Mr Chalker did not say, but the NT Independent confirmed by several sources, was that the husband had been bailed on the Tuesday in Tennant Creek after breaching a domestic violence order that had the woman as the protected party.
She was incinerated on the Friday, and died on the Sunday.
Tuesday, November 30, 2021
The NT Police executive and media unit may have breached a court suppression order by sharing an online news article that contained a video related to Channel Seven’s Zach Rolfe documentary through its internal ‘media wrap’ service to hundreds of serving police officers, the NT Independent can reveal.
On Monday, the NT Director of Public Prosecutions announced he is currently seeking advice on charging Channel Seven’s journalists with contempt of court for airing and producing the documentary into the Rolfe matter that was televised outside of the NT late last month.
But the DPP did not mention the latest gaffe by the police executive and media team.
Chief Justice Michael Grant had flagged in early November that the court was aware of the Spotlight program, which aired on October 24, as well as “various material posted on the Daily Mail website”.
The NT Independent has confirmed through various well-placed sources that the NT Police executive and media unit shared a link with hundreds of serving officers to the Daily Mail article the following day, that contained video from Zach Rolfe’s body-worn camera from the night of the Kumanjayi Walker shooting death.
It remained unclear if the DPP was also looking to charge NT Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker or anyone in the executive and media unit with contempt charges for distributing the Daily Mail’s video in the Northern Territory.
Then-DPP Nick Papas’s office sent the statement but did not respond to the NT Independent’s questions, including who leaked the news of the potential charges being filed against Channel Seven.
Friday, December 3, 2021
Police Commissioner cryptically hints at charges over spread of COVID-19 in the NT
Mr Chalker seemingly said, in a roundabout way, that the Major Crime Unit would be investigating possible charges against a 21-year-old woman who allegedly brought COVID-19 to the Territory in November 2021, which resulted in the death of a woman, but his statement was unclear and he told reporters at a press conference he did not want “things” going into the public domain.
Mr Chalker spoke in a rambling, cryptic way when announcing a police investigation following the death.
“Unfortunately this death does apparently have links to a breach of chief health officer directions,” he said.
“It seems to be the seed which started the spread of COVID within the Northern Territory. And as such, Major Crime are now undertaking an investigation.
“Because of that I won’t speak any further in respects of it. I know that you all will understand we’ve got to go through the process of a fulsomeness investigation.
“And I don’t want things to be going in the public domain. Suffice to say the Northern Territory community can be satisfied that the Northern Territory Police are investigating the causation and links that may have been to the passing of this lady overnight.”
He did not explain to the journalists exactly what he did not want in the public domain
His response became stranger when asked by a journalist if the investigation had to do with the well-publicised border breach by the woman who sparked the outbreak.
“A death has occurred in the Northern Territory linked to COVID. COVID had not previously been in the Northern Territory in an environment where it couldn’t be contained,” Mr Chalker said.
“We will now investigate to identify what the causation may have been that ultimately led to COVID being contracted by the lady that passed away last night, and whether there’s any criminality in relation to that.”
He did not explain what the woman could possibly have been charged with, and Mr Chalker has never reported back to the public the result of that investigation.
Sunday, December 5, 2021
Respected Alice Springs Detective Sergeant Leith Phillips cited an “erosion of trust, respect, integrity, and the lack of compassion and common decency” in the NT Police executive team as the reason for resigning after 24 years service, in a letter sent to Mr Chalker.
He gave a month’s notice and said he was forced out of the Alice Springs police station the day after.
“For my 24 years’ service I had my computer and swipe card access revoked, I was then tracked down inside the Alice Springs police station by Acting Commander Kirsten Engels who feigned compassion, instructed not to touch the computer, escorted to collect the last of my personal belongings and escorted to the front door of the police station,” he wrote.
Mr Phillips was then subject to disciplinary action, with Acting Commander Kylie Anderson issuing him an 11-page Section 79 notice for alleged serious breaches of discipline – which the NT Independent saw– one of the alleged breaches being the resignation letter.
The resignation letter was described as being “disrespectful and discourteous” and “disgraceful and improper” to Mr Chalker and the executive, and “improper and disrespectful” towards Deputy Commissioner Murray Smalpage.
Sgt Phillips was scathing of Mr Chalker, who he said he had worked alongside, and later defended after he rose to police commissioner. He was also critical of the executive charging Constable Rolfe with murder four days after the shooting.
“Sir, and I use this honorific purely due to the respect I hold for the office of the Commissioner of Police, not the person who currently holds this position, as I no longer have any confidence in your ability to lead this organisation with respect, honour, and integrity,” he wrote.
Sunday, December 19, 2021
The NT Police could no longer conduct diving search and rescue operations – such as retrieving people’s bodies – because Water Police Unit divers have either transferred or quit, or been the subject of disciplinary action, sources told the NT Independent.
An ongoing lack of training is also partly to blame for why a recently drowned man’s body could not be recovered in a timely manner, with officials forced to wait for it to decompose enough to rise to the surface, sources have said.
NT Police media manager Rob Cross had issued a press release stating that officers and NT Emergency Services had been searching for the man over two days, using foot patrols, a drone, and a boat equipped with sonar capability at Fish Hole waterhole west of Alice Springs, before police were told the man’s body had been discovered.
Sources told the NT Independent there were no police divers at the attempt to retrieve the body at Fish Hole waterhole and NT Police had to wait until the body decomposed enough to float to the surface.
They said four members of the Water Police Unit were subject to an investigation by Professional Standards Command in August for “failing to report inappropriate comments” in a Facebook messenger group chat, which included an alleged “sexist and racist” comment.
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