It’s time to bring our khaki police uniform back and restore a great Territory tradition

THE new Police Commissioner has a golden opportunity to change the image of our force by ditching their navy blue uniforms

Current Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker in the force’s navy uniform, left, alongside former police commissioner John McRoberts sporting the old khaki uniform

IT’S been tough start to the job for the Northern Territory’s new police commissioner.

Jamie Chalker officially checked in on November 11, just two days after an indigenous man was shot dead by a police officer in a remote community.

The sequence of events that led to that incident will play out in the courts.

But one thing that has been acknowledged — both before and after that shooting — is that there has been a breakdown in the relationships between police and Aboriginal people in some communities.

Police morale sunk to a serious low after Constable Zachary Rolfe was charged with murder over the shooting. Chalker’s biggest immediate task will be restoring that morale and rebuilding those community relationships.

That’s a job that is going to take time given the volatile nature of the situation right now.

But Chalker is the right man for the job.

MORE FROM MATT CUNNINGHAM

The Gunner Government’s last shred of trust has disappeared

Labor’s famed ‘fair go’ didn’t extend to its own

Who do you trust in an election campaign? Not the pollies

Government’s reliance on spin doctors shows contempt for its constituents

His 23 years in the NT police force — many spent in remote communities — mean he will come armed with the experience you can only get from time on the ground.

But there’s one thing the new commissioner could do right now that could make a difference.

It’s a symbolic gesture but one that might have a big impact.

He should bring back the Northern Territory’s khaki police uniform.

For decades the NT police differentiated themselves from the rest of the country’s cops with their unique attire.

But that all changed under Commissioner John McRoberts in 2011.

The khaki was scrapped for the traditional navy blue.

As head of the police uniform committee, Chalker played a central role in that change.

Many now believe it was a mistake. There was something more relaxed about the khaki.

Something that said ‘I’m here to help you’, not ‘I’m here to lock you up’.

Today’s navy blue seems more authoritarian; more likely to create an ‘us versus them’ mentality.

MORE FROM MATT CUNNINGHAM

THE Top End is a paradise ... but we need to make it even better

IT’S clear the Federal Government doesn’t see the need for a strong and prosperous NT

IF you don’t pay for news, you’ll be left with the ABC

IT’S time for Darwin to fight back against the rise of the objector

The decade in blue has hardly been a glorious one for the NT police.

McRoberts, who pushed hard for the traditional blue uniforms, ended up in jail for attempting to pervert the course of justice. Assistant Commissioner Peter Bravos is now before the courts charged with rape. (He has indicated he will plead not guilty.)

There was another issue with the blue in remote communities.

Here, the first time many people saw a blue police uniform was when the Intervention rolled in back in 2007.

It brought with it hundreds of officers from the Australian Federal Police.

Well-meaning officers sent from down south, but officers with no understanding of the Territory and how it works. It’s a time not remembered with great fondness by many people in remote communities.

They talk of a better, earlier time. When khaki-clad members of the Northern Territory police spent their days playing footy and basketball with the local kids.

Something they say happens less often today. A return to khaki might be a starting point to restoring some of those relationships.

More importantly though, it could provide a much-needed boost to morale. Territory police lost part of their identity when the khaki was discarded.

Today they look like any other police force. But any Territory cop knows the job here is nothing like the one done in Victoria or New South Wales. They should have a uniform that recognises that. A uniform that’s not just unique but one that instils pride and respect in the community.

The idea of returning to khaki is not a new one.

It was discussed by former Channel Nine boss Andy Bruyn and former commissioner Reece Kershaw during a review of NT police marketing and communications last year.

NT NEWS special half price subscription deal: Just $3.50 a week

Kershaw liked the idea and had an eye to implementing it before he was head-hunted by the AFP. Now it falls to Chalker. And who better to make the call than the Territory’s first born-and-bred police commissioner.

It’s a chance to restore a great Territory tradition.

And it might just help boost the morale of a proud and unique police force.