NT Government has asked Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker to resign

The NT government has asked Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker to resign ahead of his ‘planned leave’. Read why a former cop thinks the move is ‘critical’.

NT Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker has been asked to resign. Picture: Pema Tamang

The Territory government has asked Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker to resign ahead of the top cop’s planned Easter leave.

But a spokeswoman for police said they had not been told about the plans for change at the top.

Sky News revealed on Saturday the government contacted the NT Police chief executive on Friday and indicated it had lost confidence in him.

Mr Chalker has taken about two weeks’ leave but he is not expected to return to his position.

Deputy Commissioner Michael Murphy has taken on the role of Acting Commissioner while it is expected a recruitment process will follow to find a new commissioner.

NT Police head of media and communications Margaret McKeown said Mr Chalker was on planned leave that was approved weeks ago.

“Commissioner Chalker is on approved leave and Deputy Commissioner Murphy is Acting Police Commissioner in his absence,” she said.

“That was as planned. We’ve had no official notification from government that that’s changed.

“Speculation is hard for our officers on the ground because they’re working in a difficult environment.”

Ms McKeown said Mr Chalker was due to return from leave on April 19.

An NT government spokeswoman did not comment on the resignation, saying Mr Chalker was on leave.

“It is common practice for the Deputy Commissioner to act in the role while the Commissioner is on leave,” she said.

“Michael Murphy has acted in the role previously.”

Mr Chalker’s time in the role has been plagued by controversy.

He officially began in the job on November 11, 2019, just two days after Constable Zachary Rolfe fatally shot Kumanjayi Walker during a botched arrest attempt at Yuendumu.

Constable Rolfe was charged with Walker’s murder on November 13, but found not guilty by a jury in early 2022.

The decision to charge Constable Rolfe so quickly angered many members of the NT Police Force.

Outcast Labor MLA Mark Turner, who was a Territory police officer before entering politics, has welcomed the government’s move to ask Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker to resign. Picture: Glenn Campbell

Labor’s Blain MLA Mark Turner, a former NT police officer, has thrown his support behind the decision.

“If it is as reported, I stand in support of the Minister for Police’s decision to call for the resignation of the Commissioner of Police,” he said.
“It is a critical first step in addressing the issues within the force and rebuilding the public’s trust in the institution.”

A Northern Territory Police Association survey released in February showed more than 80 per cent of officers rated police morale as low or very low.

More than 97 per cent of respondents said there were not enough police to do the work being asked of them.

Mr Turner also said there was an “ongoing mental health crisis” in NT Police and systemic issues that allowed a “catastrophic failure of leadership”.

“There is a long list of broken police officers and their families who deserve better,” he said.

“Our communities deserve better. We all deserve better.”

The Northern Territory government has been dealing with escalating levels of crime, particularly in Alice Springs.

Since mid-November, around 40 extra police have been surged to Alice Springs to deal with escalating levels of crime. Picture: Mark Brake

Sources told Sky News during any one pay period between 400 and 600 officers were calling in sick.

Mr Chalker also headed the Northern Territory Government’s response to Covid-19 as the Territory Controller.

There’s been a mixed reaction to the news he has been asked to resign.

One close supporter said Mr Chalker had never had the chance to thrive in the role.

“He walked straight into Rolfe and then into Covid, now he’s gone,” the source said.

Matt Cunningham is the Darwin Bureau chief and Northern Australia correspondent for Sky News