NTPA survey: 80 per cent of police vote against Commissioner Jamie Chalker
Rank and file Territory police officers have lost faith in the NT Police Commissioner and his leadership as morale plummets to abysmal new low. Have your say in our comments section.
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TERRITORY cops have lost their faith in Police Commissioner Jamie Chalker according to the results of a damning new survey.
The Northern Territory Police Association surveyed 1044 members – about 65 per cent of the overall membership – and found the majority of officers were unhappy with leadership, understaffed, underpaid and losing faith in the force.
Critically the survey found 79.7 per cent of officers did not have confidence in Police Commissioner Chalker.
Mr Chalker said in a statement the NT Police executive had been “aware of the confidence sentiment for some time”.
“The NTPA has said it will provide further details of the survey to its membership in coming days and will be addressed at next week’s NTPA annual conference,” he said.
“We remain committed to working with our people and the NTPA to continue to advance the
NT Police force and the health and wellbeing of all of our members.
“We look forward to discussing the issues raised in the survey and talking directly to the conference next week.”
Mr Chalker said the job of police was “incredibly demanding” and the health and wellbeing of members was “our priority”.
Chief Minister Natasha Fyles has put her support behind the embattled Police Commissioner.
“We support the Commissioner,” she said.
“Police have one of the toughest jobs in the Territory. We have delivered more resources than any other government to support our police on the frontline.”
NTPA president Paul McCue wrote that the no-confidence question about Mr Chalker was a direct result of motions put forward by a “majority” of branches.
The initial results of the survey, obtained by the NT News, said a further 92.6 per cent of officers did not think there were enough police in the NT to do what was being asked of them.
Mr McCue said this result was unsurprising, and said Covid was one of the culprit contributing to the understaffing issues.
Morale among officers was abysmal, with 79.4 per cent of officers rating it as low or very low.
Overwhelmingly, 87.9 per cent of police members said they were dissatisfied with the current pay freeze offer from the Commissioner and the government.
Mr McCue echoed their dissatisfaction calling the government’s pay freeze “insulting”.
He said the results showed the NT Police force was in “complete crisis”.
“Our members do not have confidence in the Commissioner, they overwhelmingly reject the Government’s disgraceful pay freeze, they think morale is at an all-time low, and there clearly needs to be an urgent review into staffing which is completely insufficient to undertake the roles our members are being forced to do,” Mr McCue said.
He said the initial results had been sent to Mr Chalker, Chief Minister Natasha Fyles, Police Minister Kate Worden and Opposition police spokeswoman Lia Finocchiaro.
“From the outset, I have been upfront about providing the results of this survey to not only the membership, but also the Commissioner of Police and government — which ensures as much openness and transparency around the results as possible,” Mr McCue said.
“We look forward to discussing the results with them as soon as possible”.
Mr McCue said the “preliminary results” would be comprehensively reviewed and compiled in a final report at the annual conference to be held next week in Darwin.
“It was our role to facilitate that (no confidence) vote,” he said.
Mr McCue said Mr Chalker and his two deputies had previously committed to attending the conference to discuss the results with regional delegates.
“It is not the role of the NTPA to hire, or fire, Commissioners. That is a discussion, taking into account these survey results, between Government and Commissioner Chalker.”
Deputy Chief Minister and former Police Minister Nicole Manison said the government was listening to police.
Yet Ms Manison was still supportive of the embattled Commissioner despite the overwhelming condemnation from the police rank-and-file.
“Absolutely his heart is in the right place of wanting to support the members and support the community,” she said.
“I think we need to look at what the police have gone through over the last few years.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen the environment more challenging than what they’ve had to deal with.
“You’re not going to be popular with everyone when you have to make those difficult decisions that are in the best interest of the police force but also the Northern Territory community.
“You have to make hard decisions every day and you’re not there for a popularity contest.”
Ms Manison said it was important not to underestimate the impact of the Kumanjayi Walker shooting in 2019 and Covid.
“Our police are magnificent. They go above and beyond every day that they’re on duty.
“We’ve seen them have to do a lot of overtime to be able to meet those challenges.”
Ms Manison when asked if the top brass and government had asked too much of police officers, she said she was “proud” of the resourcing efforts and budget increases.
The Country Liberal Party called for heads to roll in the wake of the survey, but stopped short at calling for the Police Commissioner to step down.
Opposition leader Lia Finocchiaro called for Police Minister to be sacked from the role, with the portfolio to move to the Chief Minister.
Ms Finocchiaro said Kate Worden was “juggling” “two conflicting agencies” as the Police and Territory Families Minister.
Ms Worden’s office said would not directly respond to the CLP’s calls for resignation or the NT News’s questions about the survey results.
Ms Finocchiaro also called for an independent inquiry into the state of policing and a review in line with the 2012 O’Sullivan Report.
”Take on the police portfolio, make the hard decisions, call the inquiry, shine some light into what is going on,” she said.
“Starting tomorrow appoint a retired judge to that process and spend 30 days undertaking an inquiry where police command are required to front up and show cause and explain what they’re going to do differently to fix this catastrophic crisis in our police force.”
Ms Finocchiaro refused to call for Mr Chalker to be ousted, casting the blame for his no confidence finding on the government.
“I’m not here to be the judge or jury for anybody but what I know is we have a police force in crisis and ultimately it is the government’s responsibility to do something about that,” she said.
Ms Finocchiaro said the CLP had repeatedly unsuccessfully tried to get inquiries into policing through the parliament.
“If this government doesn’t have the leadership, the guts or the gumption to do what it needs to do, then the CLP would do it for them,” she said.
Blain representative and former police officer Mark Turner said the Commissioner’s position was untenable and called for a Royal Commission.
“Whilst commentary will swirl on the future of the Police Commissioner; I cannot see how his position is tenable.
“The agency has spoken loudly and clearly. They do not have confidence.
“I cannot see any option that does not involve him standing aside.”
Mr Turner said even if Mr Chalker was kicked out of the top job, systemic issues including police mental health resources would remain.
“Our Auditor General has limited resources. We have an ICAC with their budget slashed, a coroner at capacity, and I do not personally believe the Legislative Assembly Committee Structure has the ability to handle a problem of this magnitude.
“At the moment, they’re hurting; we appear to have the highest attrition rate in the nation, a demoralised and deeply hurt police force, and they’ve been let down by those that they trust to protect them.
“I can see no alternative but to start the conversation of a Royal Commission into Policing in the Northern Territory.
“There are too many unanswered questions, too many rumours of too much bad behaviour, and sunlight is the best form of transparency.”
The latest NTPA survey had the highest participation rate in five years, with 1044 or a possible 1608 members taking part.
Mr McCue said the union represented 98 per cent of the entire police force part of their membership.
This is not the first time officers have voiced their concerns, with police one of the lowest scoring departments in the government’s People Matters Survey 2021.
While 70 per cent of the public sector as a whole said they were satisfied in 2021, only 49 per cent of Northern Territory Police Fire and Emergency Services workers were happy in their jobs.
Only a third of NT PFES workers agreed that the top brass had the appropriate capabilities and skills to lead, senior managers consider the wellbeing of their employees or model the behaviours expected of them.
It found 61 per cent of NT PFES staff felt senior managers did not engage with employees at all levels, while 58 per cent said recruitment and promotions were not based on merit.
A further 59 per cent said they did not feel safe to speak up and challenge they way things were done, and 58 per cent said they did not feel recommendations from staff were fairly considered.
Critically the 58 per cent of staff said they did not feel any action would be taken as a result of the survey.
Following the results in 2021, a PFES spokesman said the force was already working to improve workplace relations prior to the survey under it’s “Project 2030” ten year strategy.
He said business plans were developed following workshops with staff.
“Police held Senior Sergeant and Sergeant workshops and provided access to the Commissioner and the deputies to these members to speak openly about the challenges of their jobs, their achievements and their suggestions for improvements,” he said.
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