Veteran police officer Nathan Finn has been declared the new president of the Northern Territory Police Association amid NT Police battling critical staffing and morale issues, and the fall out from the leadership of former police commissioner Jamie Chalker.

Mr Finn is the 33rd president of the NTPA. He replaces Paul McCue who was in the job for eight years, and paid tribute to the outgoing president, and those who nominated for the board as well as the president’s role.

“The last few years have been some of the most challenging our members have ever faced. Now, more than ever we need to use our collective strength to lobby Government and the Senior Police Executive to ensure the best interests our of members are protected and progressed,” Mr Finn said.

In late February the results of an NTPA member survey were released, which found eighty-five per cent of NT Police who responded said they had considered an exit strategy from the force in the last six to 12 months, and 97 per cent of respondents did not believe there are enough police to do what is asked of them, following on from last year’s vote of no confidence in the Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker.

The NTPA said there were 1202 members who 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 same survey showed that at least 80 per cent of officers rated morale as “low” to “very low”, and that eight out of 10 officers thought about resigning last year. The figure translates to 63 per cent of the entire NT Police force has considered quitting.

Mr Chalker “retired” as police commissioner at the end of April, after signing a confidential settlement which brought an end to the legal battle over his botched dismissal.

Adam Swift was elected as the new vice president of the NTPA, while senior vice president, Lisa Bayliss, who also ran for the top job, will remain in the NTPA office during Mr Finn’s transition period.

Mr Finn, who still holds the rank of a senior sergeant, has been a frontline police officer for 20 years serving both in remote, and regional stations across the Northern Territory.

“Congratulations to our new president, Nathan Finn, who I have no doubt will continue leading the hard work in representing all members’ best interests with government and the senior police executive,” Mr McCue said.