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 at how Mr Chalker knew his star witness at the Constable Zach Rolfe’s murder trial had his integrity “compromised” by investigators, how he sought powers to raid the NT Independent, and the calls for a royal commission into NT Police.
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
Wednesday, August 31, 2022
Fyles Government kills public inquiry into police, says it is currently restructuring force
The Fyles Government rejected calls for a parliamentary inquiry into the ongoing crisis in NT Police, saying it was undertaking a financial and structural reorganisation of the police force that will “get to the bottom” of the problems.
The Opposition had called for a select committee to undertake an examination of the problems after the NT Police Association survey showed 80 per cent of respondents had no faith in Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker to continue in the role, while also raising staffing levels and other issues of concern for rank-and-file officers.
However, the government used its numbers to kill the motion in Parliament, despite one of its members Mark Turner, calling for a Royal Commission into policing issues in the NT.
“I can see no alternative but to start the conversation of a Royal Commission into policing in the Northern Territory,” he told Parliament.
“If we needed a Royal Commission into Don Dale, God knows we need one into why our police are hurting so much and the communities that they protect deserve one.
Monday, September 5, 2022
The NT Independent reported Jamie Chalker and the Department of Public Prosecutions were aware the star witness at the murder trial of Constable Zach Rolfe had his integrity “compromised” by investigators, had involved himself in the investigation due to “pressure” exerted by unknown parties, and was found not to understand the law around use of force, but they put him on the stand at the jury trial anyway, according to an internal coronial report Mr Chalker attempted to suppress ahead of the trial.
The draft police coronial report, obtained by the NT Independent, also showed that an American use-of-force witness who helped the prosecution team secure the murder trial at the committal stage had also not been given all the facts relating to the shooting death of Kumanjayi Walker before forming his “expert” opinion that was “corrected” by investigators building the case against Constable Rolfe.
Further shocking details in the report show that investigators blurred the lines between a criminal investigation and a coronial investigation, with police using coronial powers to threaten witnesses to build their murder case, resulting in a “confused approach to obtaining evidence” that should be “reviewed” and prevented from happening again.
Tuesday, September 6, 2022
Editorial: Here’s why the Police Commissioner is attempting to intimidate the NT Independent again
The NT Independent wrote that the explosive special investigation series based on an internal coronial report Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker did not want the public to see had laid bare the fundamental failings in the police force, not just in its response the night Kumanjayi Walker was shot and killed, but has revealed bigger overall issues with the NT Police that continue to fester.
The problem was the NT Independent said, was that the Police Commissioner knew this, and instead of doing anything to address those failings in close to three years, instead used a lawyer paid for by taxpayers to yesterday attempt to intimidate the NT Independent at the coronial inquest because his previous threats against the paper had failed to shut it down.
High priced silk Ian Freckelton sought to have coroner Elisabeth Armitage hold the NT Independent in contempt, something that did not happen, and told the inquiry “we” (meaning Jamie Chalker) was upset about the NT Independent reporting.
He conflated two different issues to confuse people.
The first, was that he was upset the paper quoted Richard Rolfe in two stories relating to the NT Police executive blocking his son Constable Zach Rolfe from attending police premises because Sergent Julie Frost, the officer in charge the night of the Yuendumu shooting, would be “triggered” if she saw Constable Rolfe in the workplace.
Constable Rolfe couldn’t or wouldn’t comment under orders so the paper went to Mr Rolfe seeking comment for the story.
The NT Independent also went to Sgt Frost and the commissioner seeking their response to the issue of banning Constable Rolfe from police premises. They chose not to respond or offer any explanation.
The paper then ran another story about Sergeant Andrew Barram and Sergeant Wayne Newell telling the executive they also did not want to see Constable Rolfe at work. Again, Mr Rolfe provided comment from his perspective and again, Barram, Newell and the commissioner did not respond to questions and our offer of the right of reply.
But the biggest problem Mr Chalker and his executive team had with the NT Independent reporting is that it was revealing the truth that he has tried to cover up since he officially took the job nearly three years ago.
The six-part investigative series laid bare the problems with the operation to arrest Mr Walker and the failings of epic proportions that led to his death. And the commissioner knew all about this for three years and instead of disciplining those responsible, he promoted them.
Friday, September 9, 2022
Calls for Chalker, DPP to explain tainted evidence at Rolfe murder trial
The NT Police Commissioner and the crown prosecutor in the Constable Zach Rolfe murder trial needed to explain to the public why it appeared they misled the Supreme Court by using evidence that was manipulated by investigators and relied on a witness who had earlier been found to be “pressured” to participate, a national legal expert said.
The shock revelations came from a draft coronial report prepared by the NT Police that Jamie Chalker had attempted to bury from the public and the defence team, but reported by the NT Independent.
The report, prepared in part by highly-respected Superintendent Scott Pollock before he was removed from the case, found that police investigators forced witnesses to provide statements with threats of disciplinary action if they didn’t participate, found the crown’s use-of-force witness was biased and didn’t understand the law, and also found that a supposedly independent report prepared by an American use-of-force “expert” had been “edited” at the request of investigators.
The NT Police executive and the crown prosecutor were aware of the contents of the report before the murder trial commenced, the NT Independent understood.
The Rule of Law Institute of Australia’s vice president Chris Merritt said the findings of the draft police report “suggested some of the evidence presented at Constable Rolfe’s trial may have been manipulated to favour the prosecution case”.
“If the matters outlined in the draft report are accurate, they suggest unknown parties associated with the investigation may have attempted to tilt the scales of justice and mislead the Supreme Court.
“If this is what happened, it is a tribute to the court that it overcame these impediments and acquitted Constable Rolfe.
“However the matters outlined in the draft report need to be properly examined and, if they are accurate, those responsible need to be called to account.”
Friday, September 9, 2022
The NT Independent wrote that we had told the public when we started the paper that those in positions of power were not going to be happy with our reporting, and we expected them to lash out when held accountable to the public for their actions.
First, it was the former chief minister who ran from this publication at a press conference before banning us because he didn’t like our questions that went to the heart of accountability in government. Then the new Chief Minister inexplicably kept the ban in place.
And now it was the deeply unpopular Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker taking issue with our existence and showing how frustrated he is was that we kept finding and reporting things he appeared to hide from the public.
The latest attack occurred the day before at the coronial inquest into the death of Kumanjayi Walker, where Mr Chalker’s taxpayer-funded lawyer Ian Freckleton went on a rant about the editorial the paper ran days before reaffirming our position we would not be intimidated by Mr Chalker’s bully-boy antics and would continue to report on the things he does not want reported.
The rant was a doozy, with all the best words a man working for this Police Commissioner could produce to lash out at the fourth estate: “sensational, appalling, disgraceful” is how he described our editorial before throwing in the classic “gutter journalism” zinger to make sure we all understood how frustrated he and
We told you when we started this that those in positions of power were not going to be happy with our reporting, and we expected them to lash out when held accountable to the public for their actions.
The editorial that caused their ire ran on the Tuesday. For some reason it took Freckleton an extra day to process it and he aired his grievances about its content on Thursday morning ahead of witness testimony.
His spray was not unexpected – the timing was no coincidence and it wasn’t because he’s a slow reader.
Sixteen hours before his attack on this publication and his extraordinary calls for the coroner to hold the NT Independent in contempt of court for reporting facts – which could have seen the latest story blocked from publication – Mr Chalker received 13 questions from this publication relating to his involvement in using potentially tainted evidence at the murder trial of Constable Zach Rolfe.
As the Rule of Law Institute’s Chris Merritt pointed out in a story: “If the matters outlined in the draft report are accurate, they suggest unknown parties associated with the investigation may have attempted to tilt the scales of justice and mislead the Supreme Court”.
We can think of nothing more serious than that in the lead up to a murder trial and there has been no claims by Mr Chalker or his lawyer that the findings are untrue.
Instead of answering for his actions, Mr Chalker had Mr Freckleton attack this newspaper for its reporting and ultimately sought to prevent us from reporting the most recent story about the compromised evidence with unfounded claims we had breached a non-publication order.
We made it clear, once again, for our learned friend and the Commissioner.
We did not breach a non-publication order and further, the source report we relied on was not specifically listed in the annexure of material currently under a non-publication ban.
Thursday, September 15, 2022
NT Police delete comments about its mental health failures on R U OK? Day Facebook post
The NT Independent reported that PTSD-afflicted ex-police officers’s comments about the force’s lack of concern for mental health were inexplicably deleted from an NT Police Facebook post promoting R U OK? Day, along with the Police Minister’s comments that she would investigate mental health concerns.
The comments were deleted as Jamie Chalker claimed he was being “cyber bullied” in unrelated social media comments, which he raised on ABC radio when asked how he was addressing low morale within the ranks.
The deleted comments sparked an Office of the Independent Commissioner Against Corruption referral, and two further calls for a royal commission into NT Police, including from former officer, Nick Carter, who left the force in June 2021 after close to a decade, after experiencing the trauma it can inflict, and who has now become an outspoken campaigner about mental health issues in the NT Police.
The NT Police Facebook post on September 8 – which remained public but without the comments – showed a picture of three people, including Commander Janelle Tonkin and Superintendent Craig Barrett, promoting R U OK? Day, suggesting that you did not need to be a professional to ask someone if they were okay.
Screenshots of the comments before they were deleted, provided to the NT Independent, showed several former officers including Mr Carter commented on the post, in part to say they were not provided an exit interview when they left the job to explain the negative experiences that led to their departure.
Sunday, September 18, 2022
Editorial: NT Police mental health failure cover-up shows cynical appropriation of R U OK? branding
The NT Independent wrote an editorial saying that the NT Police, an organisation that had seen five of its people take their own lives that year, publicly dismissed, censored and deleted their own former members’ personal experiences of mental health support failures in the agency in a shocking social media bungle.
It was an organisation whose own internal report from June found they failed to meet legislative responsibilities around mental health.
The NT Independent exposed to a broader audience the fact the NT Police deleted the Facebook comments of former officers talking about what they felt were the failures of the force to support their mental health.
To do this is at the very least was unethical.
The fact they chose to do it on a post prompting R U OK? Day was unfathomable.
We wrote we had never heard someone in the police executive or a minister speak in a really human way publicly about mental health with any amount of real vulnerability, empathy or contrition.
None of them seemed to understand it is not really about systems and processes, although they are important, fundamentally it is the culture of an organisation, the thinking of the people from the top down, it is compassion and recognition and non-judgmental listening.
Monday, September 19, 2022
Police refused to serve restraining orders to men connected to Peppimenarti death, documents show
The alleged perpetrators involved in the death of a man killed by a crossbow in Peppimenarti the week before did not have existing restraining orders served on them, according to correspondence with the Police Minister from a lawyer acting on behalf of the family of the dead man.
A lawyer acting on behalf of a Peppimenarti family had written to Police Minister Kate Worden following the death asking her to help get NT Police to serve personal violence restraining order applications against members of the community.
A 36-year-old man died after he was taken to the Peppimenarti Health Clinic with an arrow wound amid increasing violence in the remote community.
Police charged an 18-year-old man with manslaughter for allegedly firing the arrow, and the following day charged a 22-year-old man with recklessly endangering life.
However, the lack of action before the fatal incident has left some claiming police and the government had ignored repeated warnings about escalating tensions in the community.
The ABC reported Northern Land Council chair Samuel Bush-Blanasi said there had been “problems” building in the community for nearly a year but that the police and government took no action to address community concerns.
Tuesday, September 20, 2022
Calls grow for federal inquiry into NT Police, Chalker to leave
An independent MLA and a Labor MLA called on the federal government to order a public inquiry into the ongoing “crisis” in the NT Police force and for Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker to vacate the role, while the Opposition CLP continue to refuse to publicly criticise the commissioner for ongoing failures.
Independent Member for Araluen Robyn Lambley and Labor Member for Blain Mark Turner both called for a federal inquiry or royal commission into the NT Police force, after the Fyles Government last month shut down another attempt to hold a parliamentary inquiry into police.
An NT parliamentary committee would have been limited in scope and would not have any teeth to compel witnesses, Mr Turner said. But said he recently wrote to the Prime Minister and the federal Attorney-General advocating for the federal government to call a royal commission to get to the bottom of ongoing systemic issues in the force and the root causes of low morale in the force that have led to suicides this year by current and former members.
The NT Government would have no say in holding that inquiry and Mr Turner, a former police officer, said it is sorely needed here to help fix the ongoing crisis.
“The fact we’re in the situation we’re in and no one is asking why is insane. The rate of police self-harm and psychological illness would never be tolerated down south,” he said.
“We’ve just seen them [police executive] hiding negative posts on the R U OK? day [Facebook] post, trying to whitewash mental health [issues]. This can’t carry on indefinitely and we’ll be paying the cost of the experience we’ve lost for decades.”
Ms Lambley told the NT Independent she also supported a federal royal commission into the dysfunction in the NT Police and that it would not be a “witch-hunt”, but rather “a means of heightening the integrity and effectiveness of our police”.
Opposition CLP Leader Lia Finocchiaro on radio again stopped short of criticising Mr Chalker publicly or calling for a federal inquiry, suggesting instead that he should be “performance managed” by the Fyles Government through a parliamentary inquiry that has already been shut down.
Ms Finocchiaro did not rule out backing a federal public inquiry but continued to advocate for a parliamentary inquiry first, despite noting that the CLP had failed three times in the last two years to establish one.
Sunday, September 25, 2022
The NT Police secretly sought authorisation from a federal agency to press charges against the NT Independent that would have seen a raid on its office, computers seized and staff possibly arrested, because this publication reported on a heinous sex crime the police media team suppressed from the public, it was revealed.
The secret plot against the free press for reporting on matters in the public interest was condemned by the union representing Australian journalists, who called the police’s tactics “disturbing” and part of a “dangerous pattern of behaviour in the Northern Territory” against this newspaper’s journalists.
The MEAA also passed a motion officially condemning the police and the NT Government for the failed scheme, as well as for the ongoing ban on this publication’s journalists from attending ministerial press conferences.
The police hatched the plot to charge the NT Independent for running a March 2021 news article about a toddler who had been sexually assaulted in their front yard through a fence by a man in the street. The police had not notified the public about the horrendous incident.
Tuesday, October 12, 2022
Labor MLA Mark Turner used parliamentary privilege to suggest the NT Police executive was secretly recording police officers and staff at stations and in their patrol cars, adding that if proven “the attrition rates would further climb”.
Mr Turner used his adjournment speech to raise issues about mental-health support services for NT Police members following a CLP motion to debate the ongoing crime crisis that was supposed to touch on well-being issues of NT Police personnel that has been subject of a review completed earlier this year.
The former police officer told Parliament there had been no improvements in how the executive deal with their employees following the well-being review and that many officers are being disciplined “with serious mental health issues” then told to respond to the alleged discipline breaches within 14 days with no assistance.
Mr Turner then claimed that the “latest issue appears to be covert recording within the workplace”.
“Rumours now abound that the rank-and-file police are worried that they are being recorded at work or in their vehicles, including people being suspended over being covertly recorded,” he told Parliament.
No doubt the restructure is the same one that Chalker wants to stay and finish.
No doubt the restructure is the same one that Chalker wants to stay and finish. It seems that we only have one Labor member with any morals or decency and fit for the job. We need a couple more to step up to the plate and be worthy of the salary.