Analysis: Outgoing NT Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw had many enemies

POLICE commissioners are rarely popular among rank-and-file officers but Reece Kershaw was despised by many of the men and women he led, writes CRAIG DUNLOP

Outgoing NT Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw was despised by many of the men and women he led, writes Craig Dunlop

POLICE commissioners are rarely popular among rank-and-file officers but Reece Kershaw was despised by many of the men and women he led.

Mr Kershaw took over the job at a difficult time.

His predecessor, John McRoberts, had been caught having sex with the suspect of a major fraud investigation and would later end up behind bars.

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Mr Kershaw, a quintessential corporate manager, set out to clean up what he saw as undesirable and outdated elements of the force.

A string of resignations among Kershaw’s inner circle posed the question of where the real problems lay in the force.

A series of disciplinary investigations that Mr Kershaw – rightly or wrongly – was seen to be behind, started to resemble witch-hunts against respected, mid-ranking officers — many who ended up being cleared of any wrongdoing.

Dozens of senior police quit the force they had dedicated their working lives to, happily taking early retirements as Mr Kershaw tried to trim senior ranks.

In his job interview with the AFP, Mr Kershaw would no doubt have boasted of his signature “values- led policing” reforms.

Those interviewing him likely wouldn’t have known that rank-and-file police almost universally see the reforms as unworthy.

The AFP is going through tough times at the moment.

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Raids targeting political journalists have plunged it into a reputational crisis and a spate of suicides among officers have morale at rock-bottom.

Hopefully, Mr Kershaw can unite his troops better in Canberra than he did in the Territory.