Michael Murphy strongly considering putting hand up for top cop job

ACTING Commissioner and chief executive Michael Murphy is ‘strongly’ considering putting his name on the table to become the next top cop of the Territory

Acting Commissioner Michael Murphy is strongly considering putting his name forward to become the Territory’s new Police Commissioner. Picture: Keri Megelus

ACTING Commissioner and chief executive Michael Murphy is “strongly” considering putting his name on the table to become the next top cop of the Territory.

Mr Murphy was coy about his prospects at becoming the next commissioner when speaking yesterday.

It comes after the shock announcement on Wednesday, in which NT Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw was announced as the new Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police.

the Next AFP Commissioner will be Reece Kershaw, who is Currently Commissioner of Police for Northern Territory. PICTURE KYM SMITH

Mr Murphy said he would have to consider the implications it would have on his family before he put his name in the hat.

“I’ve got the family to consider and it’s next level too it’s a lot of commitment, I am pretty committed at the moment … but I’ll definitely strongly consider it,” he said on Katie Woolf’s 360 show yesterday.

“I’ll strongly consider it. I like doing the job, I think it’s quite exciting, we’ve got a great police force and great fire service, we’ve got a great emergency service and we’ve got great volunteers. The Territory is a great place to live.”

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Mr Murphy said he would remain loyal to his job regardless.

“Irrespective, I like my job, I’m loyal to the job, and I’ll do my best to serve the Northern Territory,” he said.

Mr Murphy said the wider force had been complimentary towards the announcement of Mr Kershaw’s new job. He said issues had been raised as to the slow communication to cops.

“There was a lot of feedback around the messaging, and we found out just prior to the media announcement and then we had to communicate it to the workforce so there was a lot of the workforce that found out through the media,” he said.

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NT Police Association president Paul McCue remained tight-lipped as to who the association would like to see in the job. In a statement, Mr McCue said he would like to see someone from the NT appointed as commissioner.

“In terms of a choice for Commissioner, as we have stated in our media release, we would support a candidate with extensive Territory policing experience who understands the challenges our members face policing in the Northern Territory,” he said.