NT police caught with ‘black Monopoly’ – only option is go to jail

A racist email depicting a ‘black Monopoly’ board game where every property is the ‘go to jail’ card has resurfaced after first circulating to the NT Police’s Territory Response Group in 2008.

The ‘black Monopoly’ board.

A “racist” email depicting a “black Monopoly” Indigenous board game where every property on the board is the “go to jail” square has resurfaced after first circulating through members of the Northern Territory Police in 2008.

Screenshots of the leaked email, which has been doing the rounds across the NT Police force, has raised questions about the veracity of officers who have sworn affidavits claiming they had never witnessed racism within the force. It comes as a NT Police review, handed down on Tuesday, found Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal staff in Darwin “reported experiencing or observing racism and poor treatment of staff and community members at various times”. The review recommended “refresher training” for all staff.

In March The Australian revealed the Northern Territory corruption watchdog was investigating the NT Police – and specifically the Territory Response Group – over systematic racism, including allegations officers had an in-house award known as “coon of the year” for lack of ­hygiene and poor performance.

Screenshots of the email, sent to all members of the Territory ­Response Group in December 2008 had the subject line “Indigenous Monopoly”, and the body of the message saying “this is gold”.

It is understood members of the Major Crime Unit and the Drug Enforcement Section also received the email.

The revelation has raised further concerns over NT ICAC, which called on NT police to help investigate their own, to widen the breadth of its investigation into ­racism within the force.

Former NT police officer turned Territory politician Mark Turner told The Australian he wasn’t surprised by the revelations.

“The new material isn’t shocking and again goes to show that despite denials from the government and the best efforts of senior police officers to push these issues on to junior officers like Zachary Rolfe; institutional racism and cultural racism are issues in the Northern Territory Police Force, and it is pervasive,” Mr Turner said on Wednesday.

Mr Turner said he himself witnessed “institutional” racism within the force from his days as a ­recruit in 2013.

“(The racism was) primarily institutional but on occasions certainly overt and individualised,” he said. “Saying that, I have seen the same officers break down in tears over the arguably needless deaths of our Aboriginal community.

“Scapegoating individual officers, such as Zachary Rolfe, for ­systemic issues is troubling and doesn’t enable us to fix the ­problem.”

Two weeks ago, chief of the Northern Territory’s corruption watchdog Michael Riches declared mock awards issued within the Territory police’s elite police unit as “racist towards First ­Nations people”.

Several senior police officers swore in separate affidavits claiming they had “never experienced any racism” and the awards weren’t racist.

The investigation has also been widened after The Australian reported grievances by current and former officers.

A spokeswoman for the NT Police said “racism in any form is abhorrent and unacceptable and the Northern Territory Police Force is deeply committed to maintaining the public’s trust”.

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