Matt Cunningham opinion: Can Michael Murphy remedy NT Police’s crippling morale crisis?

If the first few weeks of his tenure are any indication, new Police Commissioner Michael Murphy might be the right man to turn the force’s ship around, writes Matt Cunningham.

Police Commissioner Michael Murphy and Acting Chief Minister Nicole Manison provide an update on the Barkly wildfire outside Tennant Creek. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

To say the NT Police force has been in crisis over the past four years would be a bit like saying it’s been warm in the Barkly this week.

A combination of Covid-19, disquiet over mandatory vaccinations, the police shooting of Kumanjayi Walker at Yuendumu and the subsequent murder charge laid against former constable Zachary Rolfe has seen hundreds of officers leave the force and many others take extended leave.

The crippling levels of morale have not been helped by the hard line stance of the police executive under former commissioner Jamie Chalker.

But if the first few weeks of his tenure are any indication, new Commissioner Michael Murphy might be the right man to turn this ship around.

Mr Murphy has already been busy writing to almost 250 of the more than 450 troops who have left over the past three years and asking them if they might consider a return.

This olive branch is probably more symbolic than anything — a handful of former officers are said to be considering the commissioner’s offer.

But it’s an acknowledgment of sorts that disciplinary actions and other executive demands of the recent past perhaps could have been handled better and might be done differently under a new regime.

Deputy Commissioner Murray Smalpage, who oversaw many disciplinary actions and upset rank-and-file officers when he was recorded saying the collective noun for a group of police officers might be a “murder”, has retired.

A key to Mr Murphy’s early success has been his communication.

You don’t need to be a great public speaker to be a police officer but it certainly helps if you hold a leadership position.

Police Commissioner Michael Murphy formally took over the top job last month. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Mr Chalker was delivered perhaps the most difficult set of circumstances any police commissioner could hope to face.

A controversial shooting just two days before he began the job, followed by nationwide protests and accusations of a racist police force and a murder charge laid — some have argued in haste — against one of his officers.

Then Covid-19 and all of its associated issues.

But one of the biggest issues that contributed to his exit was not just the way these things were handled but the way he communicated them to both the public and his officers.

Long trained in police speak, Mr Chalker would use management phrases and talk about things like “interdictions” and “permeations”, often leading anyone listening to wonder what on earth he was talking about.

A low point was the rambling six-and-a-half minute press conference he gave after Mr Rolfe was found not guilty, before departing without taking questions.

Mr Murphy has so far proved a far more effective communicator, albeit in an environment where emotions are somewhat less elevated.

He also appears to be dealing with the issue that has dogged the police force since November 2019.

Yesterday he revealed police had referred a complaint by Mr Rolfe’s lawyers over the actions of the detective who led the investigation into Mr Rolfe to Victorian police to investigate.

Zach Rolfe was acquitted on all charges by a Supreme Court jury last year over the shooting death of Kumanjayi Walker in Yuendumu in 2019. Picture: Glenn Campbell

The most curious part in all the revelations about the Rolfe investigation has always been the $100,000 paid to American criminologist Geoffrey Alpert to prepare a report into the Yuendumu shooting, when investigators were unable to find a local expert who could do the same.

It was subsequently revealed Detective Senior Sergeant Wayne Newell — who has declined requests for comment — exchanged emails with Professor Alpert as they workshopped changes to his report, which concluded the second and third shots fired by Mr Rolfe at Yuendumu were not justified.

That report was used to help commit Mr Rolfe to stand trial before Professor Alpert was dropped from the witness list when the matter proceeded to the Supreme Court.

Allowing an interstate authority to investigate this matter is the best way to get to the bottom of what happened.

Some, including independent MLA Kezia Purick, have also called for an independent inquiry into the dogged, expensive and ultimately unsuccessful pursuit of former police officer and children’s commissioner Colleen Gwynne over allegations of abuse of office.

The government says this is unnecessary but perhaps others with the power to act will form a different view.