‘We can’t fix what we don’t face’: NT Police detail anti-racism action plan to enact significant change
NT Police has unveiled its first anti-racism strategy to tackle "uncomfortable truths" about institutional bias, following years of controversy over racist attitudes within the force. Read more.
The Northern Territory Police Force has released its first anti-racism strategy for staff after facing years of reported rife racist attitudes in its members.
Revealed in Alice Springs on Thursday, details on the first phase of the Anti-Racism Strategy was announced by NT Police Commissioner Martin Dole and executive director of the force’s Cultural Reform Command, Leanne Liddle.
However, Commissioner Dole was quick to state the move is not a “witch hunt” but really a sign of needed change.
In a recent interview with this masthead, Commissioner Dole said the strategy was a sign that the police force is changing and actually understanding what racism is and what it looks like.
“This is about accountability and improving,” Commissioner Dole said following the launch.
“Our officers serve a diverse community, and we are committed to building a police force that reflects and respects that.”
The investigation into the force was first announced in the middle of last year following Coroner Elisabeth Armitage’s findings from the inquest into the death of Kumanjayi Walker, a 19-year-old Warlpiri man who was shot during an attempted arrest in Yuendumu in 2019.
In her statement, Ms Armitage said there were “significant hallmarks of institutional racism” within the force.
However, she could not make any findings which went against the Supreme Court verdict on former NT Police constable Zachary Rolfe who shot Mr Walker and was acquitted of murder.
Speaking at the launch event for the anti-racism strategy, Ms Liddle, who has spent over a year investigating racism in the force, acknowledged it was a difficult issue to tackle.
“Systemic racism is an uncomfortable truth, but it is not a reflection of every officer,” she said.
“Instead it is about accepting that racism has informed the structures that have shaped policing for generations.
“We know that we can’t fix what we don’t face, and today is all about launching a road map that ensures that we are a professional, fairer and more accountable police force that serves and protects everyone.”
What does the action plan look like?
The strategy looks at four key areas:
•Serve and protect,
•eliminate racism,
• represent and
• reflect our territory and be accountable.
It relates to the first stage of the force’s anti-racism action plan which is scheduled to be delivered by 2027 and aimed at addressing the issue at all levels.
More detailed steps outlined in the plan include delivering anti-racism training to employees, providing tools to identify racist employees and improving processes that protect victims and whistleblowers of racism.
It also included plans on training to improve police responses to Aboriginal Territorians in domestic, family and sexual violence incidents to “avoid escalation, re-traumatisation, misidentification, criminalisation and harm to victims”.
On top of this, the strategy aims to increase Aboriginal employment and retention rates to 30 per cent across all staffing to mirror the NT’s First Nations population.
Other steps include partnering more with decision makers to help address community safety, reducing “racial profiling” and “eliminating racism” by reviewing and changing how data is collected, stored and broken down.
Ms Liddle said it was essential the plan was put into action.
“It is critical, absolutely critical, we are a professional police force, and to do that we have to be held accountable to the highest standards,” she said.
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Originally published as ‘We can’t fix what we don’t face’: NT Police detail anti-racism action plan to enact significant change
