NT Police Association president Vince Kelly speaks about the ex-police commissioner John McRoberts saga’s impact on police force as he prepares to step down after 14 years

AS NT Police Association president Vince Kelly prepares to step down after 14 years, he opens up about one of the biggest blows the force has suffered.

NT Police Association boss Vince Kelly retires after 14 years

AS he prepares to step down after 14 years as NT Police Association president, Vince Kelly, has described the circumstances surrounding the departure of ex-police commissioner John McRoberts as among the darkest and saddest periods the force has endured.

The former commissioner was forced to resign after allegedly involving himself in an investigation into travel agent and socialite Xana Kamitsis, who is accused of rorting the Government’s pensioner travel scheme.

“It really was one of the darkest and saddest days in the police force when all of the alleged behaviour became public,” Mr Kelly said.

“And not because it became public but because of the alleged behaviour that’s believed to have occurred.

“It’s indisputable that it damaged public confidence in the police force.

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“Perhaps the saddest thing about the whole McRoberts affair, if one can call it that, is the political reaction and public commentary that accompanied this.”

As Chief Minister Adam Giles fought to stave off a party revolt against his leadership in early February he accused senior police were working with CLP politicians in “a coup” against him.

Mr Giles subsequently admitted he had “overreached” himself in making the allegations which came as he prepared for a partyroom ballot on his future.

“It was completely unnecessary, it was done for purely political purposes,” Mr Kelly said of Mr Giles’s allegation.

“The Chief Minister still to this day has failed to properly apologise to our members.

“And, in fact, he cast a slur over the integrity of senior police.

“Now we’ve got to sit back and cop the fact he thinks he can simply waltz through and appoint two of those senior police to senior positions,” he said in reference to this week’s announcement of Reece Kershaw as Police Commissioner and Mark Payne as Deputy Commissioner.

Mr Kelly said the Mr Giles’s refusal to clarify that neither Mr Kershaw nor Mr Payne were among the officers he referred to in his “coup” allegation meant it could only be “inferred” neither were.

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“I wish them all the very best,” Mr Kelly said of the new Commissioner and his deputy.

“They’ve got a lot of challenges in front of them.”

“Their biggest challenge was getting politicians out of the day-to-day operations of the police force”.

Mr Kelly also said police welfare was an issue the new Commissioner and his Deputy needed to address.

After 27 years as a member of the NT Police, Mr Kelly will be moving to Canberra.

There had been significant changes in police resourcing and attitudes within the force over the nearly three decades he has been a member.

One of the biggest changes had been in attitudes towards Aboriginal people, saying the 1987 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody had heralded a major change in this area.