Jamie Chalker’s time as Police Commissioner has been defined by the aftermath of Kumanjayi Walker’s shooting death which raised serious questions about his integrity, including the hiding of key evidence in the Constable Zach Rolfe murder trial and questions of the integrity and morale of the force under his leadership.
In the wake of Mr Chalker’s disappearance, this series examines his chaotic reign as top cop, bringing together all the failings, the lies, the alleged conspiracies, and mystifying public utterances.
Today, we look at the Constable Rolfe criminal investigation being referred to federal authorities, and the pall cast over our entire justice system by the alleged machinations behind it, and how 63 percent of the entire police force has considered leaving.
READ: Tarnished Brass: Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker’s career saved from a housing wreck
READ: Tarnished Brass II: ‘An erosion of trust, respect, integrity, and the lack of compassion…’
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
Sunday, February 12, 2023
EDITORIAL: Previously redacted sections of the Pollock/Proctor report revealed by the NT Independent is the closest to a smoking gun yet that the NT Police, at the direction of Commissioner Jamie Chalker’s office, attempted to pervert the course of justice by charging Constable Zach Rolfe with murder while aware there was insufficient evidence for the most serious charge in criminal law.
What the undredacted excerpts showed was that investigators, who had rushed to lay charges in November 2019 after the shooting death of Kumanjayi Walker, did not have the required evidence to support the charge, but engaged use-of-force “expert” witnesses who were not qualified, to create the evidence they needed to justify the murder charge in contravention of specific orders from the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions and what should have been their own ethical standards.
This is shocking and should shake any confidence Territorians had left in its law enforcement and justice systems. We say this again, this matter goes to the heart of our democratic institutions.
The criminal investigators knew what they were doing was wrong and yet they did it anyway, against directives from the DPP, who also somehow went along with it all against their own advice and supposed ethical standards.
Police investigators used an internal “use-of-force expert” who had taught outdated use-of-force training at the Police College to recruits for years, who was too entrenched in the criminal investigation to provide impartial evidence, who had “pressure” exerted on him by unknown players – and who at one point was called out by another college trainer as having a “conflict of interest” – because they needed the charge against Constable Rolfe to stick and go to trial.
They also paid for and “edited” a report by an international use-of-force expert to substantiate their initial compromised findings, again, against legal advice.
The new documents also showed Mr Chalker’s office told the lead investigators they could not approach any independent expert in Australia to provide independent evidence. That directive seemingly prevented those investigators from canvassing the list of names they had been provided for independent evidence.
Back in 2021, when it appeared the gravity of the situation was about to be disclosed publicly, we saw the DPP and the deputy DPP resign suddenly, just weeks ahead of the original trial date. We now know their office had played along with the police and used one of those “experts” at trial who they knew was compromised and unqualified and used the other inappropriate international “expert” at the committal to secure the murder trial, despite knowing his report had been manipulated by prosecutors to suit their narrative that Rolfe was a murderer.
Even if you do not condone Constable Rolfe’s actions and believe he is a racist cop, the fact the police and prosecutors appear to have acted maliciously against him to secure the murder charge casts a pall over our entire justice system.
Perhaps even more troubling is that it appears nobody is doing anything about it – at least not publicly.
The Pollock/Proctor report with redactions lifted was eventually provided to legal parties to the ongoing coronial inquest into the death of Mr Walker last September, but no mention of what Mr Chalker had hidden in the report under supposed “legal professional privilege” has been raised during the inquest, despite all the main players having provided their evidence, including former assistant commissioner and man in charge of the criminal investigation Nick Anticich and Commander Martin Dole who assisted him.
While Constable Rolfe’s legal team has attempted on a few occasions to illicit fresh evidence from senior investigators during the inquest, they have been hampered at every turn by Counsel Assisting the Coroner Peggy Dwyer, who constantly objected and repeatedly suggested there was insufficient time for questions when it appeared she recognised where inquiries were going.
But even if Peggy and Coroner Elisabeth Armitage lived up to their pledge to set aside appropriate time to examine the police’s criminal investigation – instead of pursuing Ms Dwyer’s preferred narrative of racist text messages – it would not matter in the slightest.
According to the NT Coroner’s Act, Ms Armitage cannot include any evidence of illegal conduct she discovers in her final public coronial report. Instead, she is obligated to refer those potential findings to, of all people, the Director of Public Prosecutions and the NT Police Commissioner – the very positions caught up in the alleged misconduct.
The country’s other territory seems to appreciate the importance of what happens when the public lose faith in their justice system.
The ACT launched a public inquiry into allegations police there exerted influence on the DPP to not pursue charges against the man alleged to have raped former political staffer Brittany Higgins and whether public bodies breached their duties.
There was a reason Mr Chalker panicked when Constable Rolfe’s legal team first caught wind of the existence of the Pollock report back in May 2021.
He had buried evidence and once its existence was exposed, he went to great lengths to have key parts redacted, including having a taxpayer-funded lawyer attempt to get the courts to issue a suppression order to block the media from reporting on the fact that he hid the documents ahead of the murder trial.
Mr Chalker’s lawyer claimed nothing “nefarious” had occurred when he buried evidence, but failed to offer a believable explanation for why the NT’s highest cop failed to produce evidence that refuted his experts’ testimony.
We can’t make this stuff up. The NT is far too strange on its own, especially when people of questionable ethical standards are put in critical positions of power. It’s no coincidence the institutions are crumbling all around us and necessitating visits from the Prime Minister to query whether the NT can handle its own affairs.
Tuesday, February 14, 2023
‘Stench of corruption’: Former cop MLA refers police investigation into Zach Rolfe to federal AG, PM
Former NT Police officer and Labor MLA Mark Turner said he was referring the police’s handling of the Constable Zach Rolfe criminal investigation to federal authorities following the NT Independent’s special investigation that revealed the previously redacted internal police report that he said showed “manipulation of evidence, failure to disclose relevant material and the appearance of a perversion of justice”.
The NT Independent revealed previously redacted sections of the damning Pollock/Proctor coronial report into the charging of Constable Rolfe with the murder of Kumanjayi Walker – that Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker had at one stage attempted to hide from the defence team – which showed police investigators disregarded advice from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions about which use-of-force witnesses to use while building their murder case.
Mr Turner said in a media release late on Monday that the revelations from the unredacted report “gives rise to yet more questions than answers”.
“The role of investigators is to provide all information to the courts, both for and against, not to massage a case to suit a narrative,” he said.
“This further release of information only deepens the murkiness of the investigation and leaves the stench of corruption on our highest appointments.”
“Even if I’m wrong, which the paper trail, deleted audio recordings, and emails requesting expert reports be manipulated don’t tend to suggest, there remains widespread public distrust of senior police officers sending junior police officers to a high-risk situation woefully under-equipped and a prosecution process that remains covered by the stench of corruption, manipulation of evidence, failure to disclose relevant material and the appearance of a perversion of justice,” he said.“Everyone involved, and those that care for them both deserve transparency and integrity in government, police and the courts. So do Territorians.”
Tuesday, February 14, 2023
84 per cent of NT Police officers have considered an ‘exit strategy’: Union
The NT Police Association revealed the preliminary results of the latest member survey that was emailed to members the week before, that found 84 per cent of the nearly 800 members who had taken part in the survey had considered an “exit strategy” from the NT Police force in the last six to 12 months.
NTPA president Paul McCue said the survey, which was still open, also found that 84 per cent supported a “work-to-rule approach” being taken to work and that 97 per cent of officers didn’t believe there were enough officers in the NT to do the job expected of them.
The survey also found that 76 per cent had rated morale as low or very low and 96 per cent said they did not feel supported by the NT Government.
“The results are disastrous for [the] government,” Mr McCue said in the update.
“What is quite clear, is you have had enough. You clearly do not feel supported by the current government, you are completely overwhelmed and under-resourced, and you support work-to-rule [action].
“Most concerningly, at no stage has any proposal put forward around salary included consideration, or reference to the significant issues you continue to face – on behalf of government – including escalating crime, increased alcohol abuse, critical under staffing, the more than 10 per cent attrition rate, or the exorbitant cost of living pressures.”
The survey did not include any direct questions about the police leadership team and Commissioner Jamie Chalker. A survey last July revealed that 80 per cent of more than 100 officers who answered the survey did not have confidence in Mr Chalker remaining in the role.
That result had Mr McCue saying the police force was “in complete crisis”.
Thursday, February 16, 2023
Senior officer terminated for criticising Jamie Chalker’s leadership
The NT Independent reported that Sergeant Mark Casey, a highly respected NT Police officer with more than 25 years of distinguished service to the Territory, was sacked by the police top brass for daring to criticise Jamie Chalker and his executive management team in the NT Independent last year.
Sgt Casey was given notice of his termination that morning in a letter from Assistant Commissioner Bruce Porter in which Mr Porter claimed Sgt Casey engaged in “subversive [conduct] and undermines public and staff confidence in the [NT Police]” when he wrote an opinion piece for this publication in May 2022 that highlighted Mr Chalker’s failings as leader and his breaches of NT Police values in the Constable Zach Rolfe investigation.
Sgt Casey had also raised issues with Mr Chalker’s “authoritarian” approach and was one of the first to call for a vote of no-confidence in the commissioner last year over the ongoing breaches of the NT Police’s core values.
When officers were provided the opportunity in a member survey last July, nearly 80 per cent of those who responded said they had no confidence in Mr Chalker to continue in the role, with the largest reason listed as his handling of the Constable Rolfe murder charge.
Sgt Casey, who is the father of two, told the NT Independent he was in “shock” about being terminated and found it ironic that he would be the one sacked for not “upholding police standards”.
“It is retribution and continued persecution for sharing what others were thinking,” he said.
“I’ve spoken to literally hundreds of people, civilians, police officers, ex-police officers, and everyone has said it took a lot of courage to speak out about the lack of integrity and applauded me for my actions. I believe I was upholding the standards. Whilst I acknowledge that I breached some general orders, it was for the higher cause of public confidence in the police.”
Sgt Casey added that he was following the police code of ethics when he wrote the opinion piece because he was required to raise issues of integrity and misconduct when it was presented.
“The last time I did that through the proper processes, I was disciplined, so this was the only way to expose that,” he said.
Friday, February 17, 2023
MLA drops explosive allegations in Parliament about Chalker’s influence on ICAC investigations
Labor MLA Mark Turner used parliamentary privilege to air explosive allegations that a senior NT Police officer inferred that Jamie Chalker had intimidated the ICAC with his “appendage” to make investigations go away, and that a police inquiry into unsafe homes in Bellamack was not proceeding because the officer dismissed it as “cheap housing for poor people”.
The shocking allegations were made late at night, following a motion of “public importance” put forward by independent MLA Kezia Purick, in which she called for the Fyles Government’s secret Shanahan report into proposed ICAC Act revisions be made public and raised concerns from whistleblowers that commissioner Michael Riches was not acting on serious allegations of corruption and misconduct.
During debate, Mr Turner recounted a story about his recent dealings with a whistleblower seeking an investigation into the ongoing Bellamack homes scandal that saw the government fail to act on an engineer’s report about serious safety risks with homes in the community that endangered occupants’ lives in the event of a thunderstorm and strong winds.
Mr Turner said the whistleblower respected frontline officers and had gone through the process of seeking an investigation into the NT Government’s refusal to take action on the public safety issue, finally getting in touch with a senior officer.
“The senior police officer and this again, is a kicker, allegedly told the whistleblower words to the effect that ‘the government has come up with this stupid cheap housing scheme to help the poor people. What do you expect you’re going to get? Cheap housing for poor people. What do you expect?’,” Mr Turner said.
“Not the attitude you would expect [from police]. Nonetheless, they continued to attempt to get something done. They report they referred it to the ICAC hoping the ICAC would take action and this is where it gets murky. Our ICAC, it appears, doesn’t have the resources it seems, doesn’t have the deployable investigators.”
Mr Turner added it was concerning the senior police officer had implied to the whistleblower that Mr Chalker could make ICAC investigations – such as the Bellamack homes fiasco – go away.
“They [the whistleblower] say they were told by the senior police officer, when lamenting the lack of action, the risk to the public and the sudden lack of interest from agencies that, ‘If Chalker walks in there with his’ – to be parliamentary I’ll call it appendage – ‘drops it on top of the ICAC’s desk, some things change dramatically’, or words to that effect.
Friday, February 17, 2023
The NT Police top brass’s decision to sack long-serving Sergeant Mark Casey for voicing his opinion about Jamie Chalker’s leadership was “unreasonable” and is not in line with the executive’s commitment to improve the health and wellbeing of its members, the union representing police officers said.
Mr Casey was fired the day before for an opinion piece he wrote for the NT Independent last April, in which he highlighted his concerns about Mr Chalker’s lack of integrity in leadership, his involvement in the Constable Zach Rolfe criminal investigation and the dissolution of the NT Police’s core values.
He was immediately suspended after the article was published, at first with no pay before that was reinstated, and had not been in his job for nearly 10 months before the decision to terminate him was made.
“The NTPA is appalled at the decision of NT Police to dismiss veteran police officer, Mark Casey,” president Paul McCue said.
“Mr Casey was denied the opportunity to consider resigning from the NT Police Force, something that has previously been afforded to members who have admitted to committing serious breaches of internal discipline, or have committed criminal offences.
“When you weigh up the seriousness of the matter outlined in Mr Casey’s breach, versus 25 years of dedicated service to the people of the Northern Territory, we would argue the treatment of Mr Casey has been unreasonable.”
Sgt Casey’s sacking also raised concerns for other police members about Mr Chalker’s supposed commitment to improving mental health of members after the suicides of current and former members early last year. Mr McCue said forcing Sgt Casey to wait at home for nearly a year for an outcome was unfair and a detriment to his health.
“That is hardly in line with the very public commitment of NT Police to improve the health and wellbeing of its members, and goes directly against the recommendations of the most recent review into the internal police disciplinary system,” he said.
“This is just one example of a clearly flawed discipline system, and we will continue to fully support Mr Casey as he considers his options.”
The sacking caused outrage amongst NT Police rank-and-file members, former members and the public.
“I can’t believe this shitshow can continue, where it is obvious to a normal thinking person, that the hierarchy of the NT Police are out of control,” one commenter wrote on Facebook.
Another said it was clear “the NT Police executive have severe systemic corruption issues that encompasses the whole executive group”.
Thursday, February 23, 2023
‘Sixty-three percent of the entire NT Police force has considered leaving the job’: NTPA boss
The full results of the NT Police Association survey were released which showed eighty-five per cent of NT Police who responded saying they considered an exit strategy from the force in the last six to 12 months, and that 97 per cent of respondents did not believe there are enough police to do what is asked of them, which had the Opposition calling Police Minister Kate Worden’s position “untenable” and reiterating their calls for a public inquiry into the police force.
NTPA president Paul McCue said 1,202 members responded to the survey, or 74 percent of the NTPA membership – with 1,632 members eligible – making it the highest ever return rate of an NTPA survey.
The results were worse than the results stemming from the same questions that accompanied a vote of no confidence in Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker in August last year, and from results in 2021.
Mr McCue said the survey confirmed his members believed the NT Police force was critically understaffed and under-resourced, with members feeling completely abandoned by the NT Government.
“Clearly with our membership expressing such serious concerns regarding resourcing and morale, an urgent boost in funding for police, and serious considerations for structural changes to the department, need to be made,” he said.
Mr McCue said 85.3 per cent of respondents said they had considered an exit strategy from the force in the last six to 12 months.
In addition, 97.6 percent of respondents did not believe there are enough police to do what is asked of them, and 96.7 per cent did not feel supported by the NT Government.
Nearly 81 percent rated morale as low or very low, and 86.8 percent supported a work-to-rule industrial campaign.
Opposition CLP Leader Lia Finocchiaro called for Police Minister Kate Worden to resign or be sacked by the Chief Minister and for a public inquiry to be established into the police force.
“The Fyles Government’s excuse about the crime problem being too complex for Territory Labor suggests the job is beyond the Police Minister’s capability,” she said.
“Even yesterday, the Chief Minister said she was working on long-term solutions. This means little to the police officers who, in the last week, have been kicked in the head, spat on, and had an axe thrown through their car window.
Thursday, February 23, 2023
Constable Zach Rolfe wrote an opinion piece in which he said he was a good cop, who loved the job, and did it because he wanted to help people who needed help, to protect those who needed protection, and wrote a justification for his use of racial terms in text messages that were made public at the coronial investigation into Kumajayi Walker’s shooting death at his hands.
He was also deeply critical of Jamie Chalker.
“Cops in the NT are being punished for doing their jobs these days by the current NT Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker and his hand-selected executive. Cops are being praised for running away i.e., failing the community,” he wrote.
“There are many problems in the NT, the most significant being in people’s homes, then education, employment, and medical services, among others.
“Police are called in to address these problems at the coalface to protect, defend and uphold our society’s endorsed laws. Just because the biggest problem is within some homes, doesn’t mean the compounding issues along the problem chain shouldn’t be fixed.
“Right now, the NT Police is broken. And it has no chance of being fixed until Chalker, and his cronies leave.
“…When a leader exhibits behaviour most closely attributed to a liar, a coward, and a narcissist, it is not wrong to challenge this behaviour.
“If he cannot handle any personal criticism of himself and responds with ‘misinformation’ and abuses his position to exact revenge, then he is no longer serving the people, rather he is treating the NT Police as his own personal fiefdom with impunity.
“He defends the murder charge and trial of me, the millions of dollars and thousands of wasted police hours (while the NT suffers the highest crime rates they’ve ever seen) with the fact that I sent private messages to friends and family that should never have been public.
“..Despite my multiple offers, Commissioner Chalker has steadfastly refused to meet me; he’s never even spoken to me. Despite doing my job as trained (and this has been extensively proven during the trial that cleared my name), I have been used as a pawn over the last three years to satisfy the political goals and personal egos of narcissistic clowns in positions of power.
When a clown takes over a castle, he doesn’t become a king; the castle becomes a circus – this is your legacy Commissioner Chalker.
“If no one in the circus tent has told you this yet, Commissioner Chalker, if you cared about the NT police and loved the community you’re supposed to serve, you would leave right now and never take any public office again.”
Thursday, February 23, 2023
Sgt Mark Casey filed misconduct report about executive that was ignored before dismissal
The senior NT Police officer who was sacked for criticising Commissioner Jamie Chalker filed a misconduct report about an executive member in 2019 – resulting in disciplinary action being taken against him for reporting it – before he raised it again directly to Mr Chalker in 2020 with no apparent action taken on the complaint before he was fired, documents show.
Sergeant Mark Casey was dismissed by the NT Police executive last week after a 10-month suspension for writing an opinion piece for the NT Independent in which he was critical of Mr Chalker’s leadership and the executive’s handling of the Constable Zach Rolfe murder investigation.
He had served with the NT Police for 25 years and was a second-generation Territory officer, who the brass determined had contributed “harm” to “the morale of members” by criticising Mr Chalker.
However, according to his official response to management about the disciplinary charges, dated May 13, 2022 and obtained by the NT Independent, Sgt Casey reported what he “believed was unethical behaviour by another Sergeant and an Assistant Commissioner” in 2019.
“My concerns were essentially ignored,” he wrote.
“As a result of submitting [the] report [into misconduct], no investigation of the allegations was undertaken, however contrary to the code of conduct, disciplinary action was initiated against me for submitting this report.
“The breach alleged that I contravened or failed to comply with a provision of the code of conduct … relating to ‘a member must treat everyone with courtesy, fairness and respect’.”
Sgt Casey added that he was disciplined twice over the subsequent months for making the report, with the second action taken against him by Professional Standards Command “against the recommendations of the investigating officer”.
As a result of the disciplinary action and the brass not taking his allegations seriously, Sgt Casey was diagnosed with anxiety and depression in 2019 and began seeing a psychologist, the report shows.
How can dismissing a corrupt public servant become so involved that it requires high paid lawyers on both sides and a Chief Minister that is too scared of her own shadow to do what must be done.