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 yet-to-be-explained 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 the vote of no confidence in Mr Chalker, how the tri-service lacks a defined strategy for dealing with mental health, and police investigating tens of dollars worth of “criminal damage” to election corflutes after “Integrity matters, sack Chalker now” was written on the back of them.
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 VIII: Police pursued Rolfe murder charge against DPP witness advice
READ: Tarnished Brass IX: Handling of Constable Rolfe criminal investigation referred to federal authorities
Saturday, May 7, 2022
‘I have never seen a more dysfunctional police management’: Former veteran NT Police officer
A massive overhaul of the NT Police system was urgently needed, wrote former NT Police officer Carey Joy. With so much damage done operationally and to morale already, he continued, the Gunner Government needed to take drastic action or there needed to be a federal intervention, or Royal Commission before another officer kills themselves.
“I was a policing veteran of over 15 years service in the NT, federally and overseas, with the majority of my service, about 12 years, being in the NT Police Force. I was on the exact same squad as Mark Casey in 2000 and can vouch for his personal integrity without question,” he wrote.
“Therefore, I can accurately state after observing the current NT Police executive, that I have never seen a more dysfunctional and unsupportive management team in my life in any field of employment, and I pray fellow officers do not have to endure this for much longer.
“How much longer must we all endure such blatant examples of bullying, allegations of corruption and misconduct by the NT Police executive before someone steps in and puts an end to this, before more families are destroyed or more lives are lost?”
Monday, June 13, 2022
The NT Independent reported the NT Police, Fire and Emergency Services still had no defined strategy for dealing with mental health and well-being, according to an internal report Mr Chalker raised at the May funeral for an officer who killed themselves, while reporting two other serving and former officers had since taken their lives in the previous weeks.
The latest deaths had sparked renewed calls for the ongoing review into emergency services staff well-being to be made public and acted on with questions raised over why it had been delayed.
It also came as multiple sources told the NT Independent the Alice Springs NT Police welfare officer who had been in the role for about six years, had been forced back into general duties, with Mr Chalker telling Alice Springs management the role would not be replaced.
This was despite a member survey finding that a key concern of officers was a lack of suitably qualified and experienced staff who they could talk to who would “understand the nature of their work and could be trusted”.
The paper reported there had been five known suicides by current or former NT Police officers this year alone.
The Support and Well-being Services review summary, which was released to members on June 3, stated there was no defined strategy supported by performance metrics, and only limited data reporting on mental health and well-being, while also stating there was no money for “preventative and responsive” services.
Thursday, June 16, 2022
Mr Chalker told Estimates he had a lot of support within the NT Police force despite nine police union branches calling for a vote of no confidence in him, and once again in a confusing and cryptic public performance, said there were “many mistruths”, “misguided beliefs” and “disgusting commentary” about him in the media, that he could not discuss because of unnamed “processes” being undertaken.
Mr Chalker fronted Budget Estimates hearings with Police Minister Kate Worden, and was asked about what he planned to do to turn around support for him within the force.
“It is an unfortunate reality that the Commissioner of Police has to, and it does strike a great personal cost, maintain their duty to ensure that I respect all processes that are in place,” he said.
“It is unfortunate that there is so much rumour and rhetoric out there that I simply am unable to come out and correct that record out of respect for processes. That is internal processes. These are not processes that I have established. They are long standing processes that broadly relates to discipline.
“The criminal trial was very prominent. Again, under much criticism, but following the legal advice I received, I said all that I could say. It is very difficult and frustrating to not be able to correct the record.
“I will candidly say to you, it has been very heart-breaking for me to know that many people are operating under misguided beliefs and I know a number of mistruths that are out there.
“This is in relation to the Walker matter, in relation to a multitude of matters, again, that are in the public domain.
“But I know there are people who’ve been very emotionally impacted by this and again, they read a lot of the rhetoric that’s out there, and as I’m picking up, you’ve all been reading the media…you would know that some of the commentary has been nothing short of disgusting, has not been factual, and has been deliberately targeted to cause harm.”
The NT Independent had published an investigative series after the Constable Zach Rolfe trial, based on the diary notes of Mr Chalker’s own investigators into the death of Kumanjayi Walker, who wrote they were concerned about the speed in which the investigation was leading to a murder charge, the early involvement of the Director of Public Prosecutions, and the fact the charge was laid based on an un-finished brief of evidence.
Friday, June 24, 2022
Police Commissioner wants to ‘understand the primary drivers’ for vote of confidence in him
Mr Chalker issued an extraordinary media statement saying he did not know why nine NT Police Association regions had asked for a vote of confidence in him, but wanted to understand the “primary drivers”, while once again not mentioning by name Constable Zach Rolfe and his Supreme Court murder trial acquittal for the shooting death of Kumanjayi Walker.
Although an NT Police Association vote of confidence was about Mr Chalker – two union branches also wanted a vote of confidence in Deputy Commissioner Murray Smalpage as well – the whole police executive management team put their name to the statement, a document in which the police commissioner did not make any admissions about how he could do better in his role, or any mistakes he may have made.
In the statement, Mr Chalker wrote, “The sentiment around confidence first started in the months following the event at Yuendumu in 2019,” but he did not manage to say what the event at Yuedumdu was, even though it saw the death of an Aboriginal man at the hands of police and one of the most high profile murder trials in NT history.
He did not mention Constable Rolfe, Kumanjayi Walker, a fatal police shooting, or the fact there was a murder trial, and that investigators in the shooting investigation recorded in their official police diaries they did not support a murder charge based on the evidence they had collected, nor the speed of the charge.
“An understanding of the primary drivers of the sentiment raised by those present in those regional meetings will enable us to work collaboratively in overcoming any issues of concern,” he said about the no confidence vote.
Monday, June 27, 2022
The NT Independent reported all officers rostered to work the night shift at Casuarina Police station called in sick on the previous Saturday because of dissatisfaction with issues in the NT Police broadly, including Jamie Chalker’s statement in response to the announcement of a Territory-wide vote of confidence in him in the coming weeks, sources had told the NT Independent.
Multiple sources told the NT Independent there would normally be six officers working in three crews on the 11pm to 7am shift at the Casuarina Police Station, which sits in Darwin’s largest residential area of the northern suburbs, but none of those rostered on worked the shift. Instead, the shift was covered by two officers who worked overtime, after working two people down on the evening shift which preceded it.
Several sources said officers were dissatisfied with various issues, including how long it will take to implement the recommendations from a mental health and well-being review into the NT Police Fire and Emergency Services, and the fact the NT Police executives signed a statement with Mr Chalker showing support for him.
Wednesday, July 13, 2022
The NT Police top brass directed a staffer to investigate the petty vandalism of a small number of federal election candidate corflutes – which they describe as “criminal damage” – that were repurposed with the slogan “Integrity matters, sack Chalker now”.
The NT Police were actively pursuing that matter, with a total estimated damage in the tens of dollars range, while other complaints of more substantial corflute vandalism appear to have been stalled.
The NT Independent understands a small number of corflutes were allegedly damaged in Darwin in the lead up to the federal election on May 21, including some along the Stuart Hwy at Berrimah, near the turnoff to McMillans Rd and police headquarters at the Peter McCaulay Centre.
They all had wording similar to “integrity matters, sack Chalker now” written on the back of them.
Tuesday, July 19, 2022
A man accused of riotous behaviour and throwing a “chemical” at police officers during an anti-mandate rally in 2021 was found not guilty on five charges in the Darwin Local Court after the prosecution failed to meet a court ordered deadline to disclose evidence.
When asked at a press conference on December 7, if police had identified what the substance allegedly thrown was, Jamie Chalker told the media the results had come back from Victoria the day before but would not say what the results showed.
“The advice I received yesterday was the forensic results had come back and it is being presented into the prosecution file,” he said.
Thomas Hewitt-Jones, 37, now a resident of Sydney, was facing five charges over his involvement in a “Free in the NT” anti-COVID-19 vaccination mandate rally on November 6, during a period where Chief Health Officer Dr Hugh Heggie had restricted movement for people who were not vaccinated.
The court heard accusations that the prosecution knowingly withheld evidence relating to an analysis of the alleged chemical until days before the trial date, which was unfair to the defendant.
Defence barrister John Lawrence told the court a chemical analysis report, showing what was allegedly thrown, was finalised on November 30, and given to prosecutors on February 8, and then not presented to the defence until July 13 – five days before the case was due to be heard.
Police never declared what the substance was.
After the rally, Mr Chalker took to the media to declare it was a “chemical” thrown at officers and telling the alleged offenders police were “coming for you”.
Police had sprayed capsicum spray in the period just before the alleged “chemical” was thrown.
Friday, August 12, 2022
No confidence: NT cops had their say on Chalker and the results are damning
The results of an NT Police Association survey were released showing nearly 80 per cent of NT Police officers who took part had no confidence in Jamie Chalker.
An overwhelming 79.7 per cent of respondents said they had no confidence in Mr Chalker, and another 79.4 per cent said morale in the NT Police force was “low or very low”.
The online survey was completed by a massive 1044 police officers – a total not seen since the pay ballot in 2017 – and the second highest total participation rate in the history of the NTPA. There were 1608 members who were eligible to participate in the survey.
That means more than 820 officers of the 1044 who participated did not have confidence in Mr Chalker’s ability to continue to lead the police force.
The NTPA boss Paul McCue said: “Our members do not have confidence in the Commissioner, they overwhelmingly reject the government’s disgraceful pay freeze, they think morale is at an all-time low, and there clearly needs to be an urgent review into staffing which is completely insufficient to undertake the roles our members are being forced to do.”
In response Chief Minister Natasha Fyles said she was listening to the overwhelming majority of Territory police officers who no longer have confidence in Mr Chalker, by continuing to support him, saying the government still needs to understand the “complexity of these complexities” facing the police force.
Before the vote was held Mr Chalker issued an extraordinary media statement saying he did not know why the rank and file asked for a vote of confidence in him, but wanted to understand the “primary drivers”, while once again not mentioning by name Constable Zach Rolfe and his Supreme Court murder trial acquittal for the shooting death of Kumanjayi Walker.
The whole police executive management team put their name to the statement, a document in which the police commissioner did not make any admissions about how he could do better in his role, or any mistakes he may have made.
Monday, August 22, 2022
Two other officers involved in Zach Rolfe trial have also complained about him being reinstated
Two police officers who were involved in the failed murder trial and flawed investigation of Constable Zach Rolfe complained to management about him returning to work, claiming they too would be “triggered” if they saw him in the workplace, the NT Independent understood.
Sergeant Andrew Barram, who acted as the prosecution’s use-of-force expert at the trial despite having an identified “conflict of interest”, and Sergeant Wayne Newell, who took a lead role in the murder investigation and had suggested edits to an independent use-of-force expert’s report that was inexplicably withdrawn before the murder trial, joined former Yuendumu office-in-charge Julie Frost in having Constable Rolfe banned from NT Police premises, including all stations and the police gym, sources confirmed.
Constable Rolfe had taken stress leave as a result of the ongoing ban that saw him placed behind a computer with access to police facilities revoked after being reinstated on July 18 – four months after a Supreme Court jury found him not guilty of murder in the shooting death of Kumanjayi Walker.
Constable Rolfe’s father Richard Rolfe told the NT Independent the move to ban Constable Rolfe from attending police premises based on the claims of three officers who worked to pin the murder charge on him was disgraceful and symptomatic of a police executive who lied and withheld evidence and “tampered” with witnesses.
Thursday, August 25, 2022
Gunner was issued with police warning for breaking CHO directions; never made public
A secret investigation by NT Police resulted in former chief minister Michael Gunner dodging a $5,000 fine and instead being issued a warning for breaching the Chief Health Officer’s directions, after a photo of him embracing an elderly woman without a mask was posted on social media, government documents show.
Mr Gunner had posted a photo of himself and then-Labor backbencher Mark Monaghan to his Facebook page on March 4, with their arms around Norma Fong Lim, an elderly woman and the matriarch of the Fong Lim family, with both men not wearing masks in contravention of the mask mandate in effect at the time.
Ms Fong Lim would have been considered vulnerable under NT Health directions and data indicate she would be in a high-risk category if she had contracted COVID-19.
The incident attracted controversy at the time, with “a large number of people” filing complaints with police and raising issues of double standards, as some Territorians had faced fines of more than $5,000 for breaching similar CHO directions. However, the investigation and its outcome was never publicly disclosed.
One of the complainants sent a complaint to the Ombudsman’s office after the NT Police refused to say whether they had investigated the breach.
A letter from the Ombudsman’s office, obtained by the NT Independent, claimed that the matter was investigated.
“As a result of the investigation, two of the three alleged offenders were issued with a caution for fail to comply with the CHO directions for mask wearing, the other person was not found to be criminally responsible due to them suffering from a medical condition,” a letter signed by Ombudsman senior investigator Cameron Mitchell said.
It is unclear why Mr Gunner, who had been the face of the pandemic in the NT, and who had publicly ordered Territorians to wear masks for months had only been given a “caution” and not a fine, despite Mr Mitchell’s statement implying that he was “criminally responsible” for the breach.
In contrast, five months earlier, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews was fined by Victoria Police for breaching his state’s mask mandate for walking across a car park without a mask.
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