Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Joining me in the studio right now is the Northern
Territory Police Commissioner Michael Murphy.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Good morning to you. Good morning Katie now, Commissioner.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Before I get into the issues of the day, and
there is a lot to get through, I do want
to just ask you. I've literally just learned that Northern
Territory Police are calling for information after an armed burglary
in Darwin overnight. At about twelve forty five this morning,
police received reports at two males and a female unlawfully
entered a residence on dash would place, armed with a gun.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Yeah, that's great, Katie. So there was three people and
at a unit there was a fifty seven and a
sixty one year old occupant. They've threatened them with a
shotgun and left the premises. We don't have the gun yet,
we don't know who the three people are. We've got
detectives currently working on it incredibly hard. We have deemed
it's a low public safety risk and we suspect that's targeting.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
But I mean in the pressure release it says at
this stage it's not believed the offenders were known to
the victim.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
So I think they're working through that to validate that
now we've got some detectives working on that. We're hoping
for a fairly quick and swift clear up.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
So hang on, so have still I mean, are we
in a situation right now where we have got two
males and a female to the gun who are on
the loose somewhere.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
That's correct? Ya?
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Is that?
Speaker 1 (01:17):
I mean that sounds quite concerning, I think to anybody
listening this morning.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
I've spoken to the Assistant Commissioner of Crime this morning
who spoken directly with the detectives. They've obviously previd information
that I'm not, but I've asked specifically what is the
risk to public safety and advise that it is low.
It's deemed low. They will work very quickly to identify
who these people are. We've got some technology in the
(01:40):
area where the fence could that will help us with
the investigation and we'll clear this up pretty quickly, as
we do with all the other crime times. But this
is being treated very seriously.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Well, Commissioner. It does sound like it's bloody serious.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
I mean, we've got somebody who's on the loose, So
we've got three people on the loose with a firearm.
To me, that sounds incredibly frightening water assurances can you
give the public this morning that they're not at risk?
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Look, I'm relying upon the information coming from the detectives,
and I've been very specific and my questioning to the
Assistant Commissioner, and I've got a level of confidence that
the public are not at risk, and we'll identify who
these people are and in the efforts of the investigation,
recover the firearm. But there's no need to be alarmed.
We've got detectives working on this and we're resolve it
(02:26):
as quickly as we can.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Okay, there's going to be people listening this morning thinking
why are we just learning about this now when it
happened at twelve forty five this morning.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
I guess it's because we want to get the correct
information out to the public as well. It is pretty
swift to get it out this morning, but the detectives
have to speak to witnesses, consider the time of night,
look at initial inquiries, assess the risk, and then we
you know, we have moved fairly quickly to get their
message out.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
All right, Commissioner, I'm going to move along because there
is so much for us to cover off on this morning,
and we will no doubt stay on top of this
issue that we've become aware of this morning. With these
three people are still out at large at this point
in time. With the firearm, we will certainly stay on
top of that and no doubt your team will let
us know if there's any updated information. But look news
(03:13):
breaking this morning that the Anti Independent reporting that the
Police Minister Brent Potter has shared Facebook posts which have
now been deleted, in which he's reportedly quoted Nazis Vladimir
Putin well in some instances many would deem the post racist.
According to the report, the extensive series of posts included
(03:34):
far right sentiment between twenty thirteen and twenty nineteen, which
appeared to see shortly before he was employed as an
advisor to the former Deputy Chief Minister Nicole Madison. Now
I've not seen all the posts. I've seen some of them,
but I mean we're hearing this, of course, on the
(03:55):
back of a week last week where there was claims
made in the Coronial Ink Quest by Northern Territory Police
Constable Zachary Rolf of systemic racism within the Northern Territory
Police Force Commissioner. First off, have you seen those posts
by the Police minister.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
No, I haven't. I'm aware of the article, but it's
not appropriate for me to comment on the article at
this time.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
I do want to ask so.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
I mean, on Monday, the Chief Minister, Evil Laula said,
I'm concerned about it does worry me about racism. We've
seen that across the world that there is a strong
right wing element around not being accepting of different people,
and in the territory that is one of the absolute
assets of this place is having such a diverse population.
(04:42):
Are you concerned that we may have people entering the
Northern Territory police force or entering high level jobs that
do have quite right wing, very very right wing views.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
I think that's been to a vetting process as well.
I think I'm going back to your other point. I
think we are very to be lucky in the Northern
Territory with the fabric of culture and the diversity of
many cultures and First Nations people and other people that
we can understand culture and we're actually quite protective of
that and we build really good relationships with them. I
think that's the really important part in the territory. We're
(05:16):
quite lucky. We do see the emergence of right wing
thinking and ideology and all sorts of different thinking. In
the advent of social media and global events where people
will comment on things happening around the world, and you
know people, you know, the people on Facebook or other
social platforms make comment own it and we see people
that are influenced by it. That is a concern for us,
(05:36):
and that's actually a national discussion even in law enforcement
and intelligence to assess risk to community. And we're lucky
in the Northern Territory that's not that prevalent.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
I mean, there is going to be people thinking this
morning that, you know, after the comment's made last week
in the coronial and then after these posts that I
know they're historic but have been shared by the police minister,
that we may have a situation where you've got really
very right wing us seeping into the police force.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Look, I don't think so. I think we're impartial, we're professional.
We've got really good relationships with the community. Going back
to the coronial and the testimony of Zachary Rolf and
there's a number of revelations. There was the one about
the TG and the awards that's been referred to. That's
a joint investigation with the IKAK and our Professional Standards Command.
(06:24):
That's underway at the moment. In saying that too, you know,
when the court of history sets in judgment of us,
are they going to judge us on our courage and
our respect and our integrity? Of course, so we've got
to think about what we're doing now to future brief
the police to make sure it's as safe, are culturally
safe and a culturally competent police force, but to look
(06:44):
after our offices and also look after our community.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Is it appropriate that the Northern Territory Police Force?
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Yes, I know the ika's also involved in that investigation,
but is it appropriate that you guys are investigating yourselves.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
There's a level of independence when our Professional Standards Command
a high level of confidence with their capability and with
oversight and involvement of the IKAK. I mean that's unquestionable.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Where are things at with that investigation, it's underway.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
I'm not privy to it. I'll leave that up to
the Commissioner for IKAK and Professional Standards Commander Police Commissioner.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
There's going to be people listening this morning that read
the front page of the paper on the weekend after
it was reported that you are allegedly the person who
made racial slurs in a Chinese restaurant, which former Constable
Zachary Rohlf was referring to at that coronial inquest, Commissioner,
did you make racial slurs?
Speaker 3 (07:35):
To be honest, I can't remember about making any comments racially.
I'm not a racist person.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
I mean, is that a cop out?
Speaker 3 (07:42):
I don't think so. No, it's the truth. And you know,
I can't start making things up to say it happened
or it didn't happen. I just have to rely on
my memory. It's quarter of a century ago, you know,
and appropriately got referred to the IKAK. He's done an inquiry,
he's written a letter back to the coroner. He's shared
that with me on his assessment over the inquiries he's undertaken.
(08:04):
And the thing is that you want to understand it.
Where we're at now is my job and as the
Commissioner of Police, is to make sure we have a
really culturally appropriate workplace that serves a very culturally diverse community.
So we need to get on with the job and
make improvements we've got. Our indigenous workforce is hurting after
the common shoef of last week. Historically, a snapshot. You
(08:27):
talked about systemic racism. I don't think we've got systemic
racism in the human form across the police force. We've
got really hard working people who are committed to public
safety and looking after each other. I'm really committed to
looking after the workforce, our people who work tirelessly, the
community and the future of the Northern Territory Police Force.
I think it's really really important to be aware that
(08:49):
you know that we may have systemic racism, institutional racism
as far as our policy settings and barriers for people
with diverse backgrounds that we need to challenge and reform
to make sure that I've set an aspirational target that
thirty percent of the community of the Northern Territories abergeon
on Torrestraight Islanders. We've only got thirteen percent representation in
the workforce, So I need to set an aspirational target
(09:12):
to make sure the police force is representative of the
people we serve.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Police Commissioner, what action is going to be taken though,
if this investigation into offices allegedly making racist comments and
having that racist award within well what was claimed was
a racist award within the TRG is found to be accurate.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Well, that's a matter for the Commissioner, Nayakak and Professional
Standards Command who will do the appropriate referrals based on
the collection of evidence in their assessment. That's probably too
early to look at what type of penalty exists, or
I think we just need to be impartial, let an
investigation run and search for the truth.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Police Commissioner.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
At the moment, you know, there's so many people that
are really looking to the police and are so grateful
right for the work that you guys do. Lo even
myself earlier in the week, you go this like there
is so much going on in the community that people
are really unhappy with. But then when you hear these
claims made and then you know, even when you read
this article this morning, you think their looks like there
(10:10):
is a big gap that needs to be breached between
the community and our Northern Territory Police Force for us
to move forward.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
How do you do that?
Speaker 3 (10:19):
I think we need to be courageous, We need to
challenge the way we do things and how we think,
and we need to be inclusive. We have that. We
went through a really hard time since two thousand and nineteen,
but we've got really strong bonds with the community. We
work incredibly hard for the community. We are the community.
We don't underestimate the amount of work we have to
do to continue to repair relationships and reform the police
(10:42):
force in community engagement and not reactive where you know,
we're looking at so many different aspects about diversification and
challenging current thinking. We do have a lot of work
to do. Absolutely, but and going back to the point,
like I can't acknowledge the hard working office is enough.
I mean, they are incredible busy. We haven't had any respite.
(11:02):
It's just every day there's events occurring, whether it's youth,
whether it's social order, whether it's road fatalities. We're incredibly busy.
And you know, they work incredibly hard, tirelessly, sometimes sacrificing
their time with their family to bring closure to events
like we'll see probably with the unlawful entry with the
firearm this morning. They'll be working incredibly hard to bring
this to a conclusion, to reassure the public we've got this.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Do you think that these claims that have been made
over the last couple of weeks have been damaging to
the police.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Absolutely, yes they have. And my job and the job
of the team and the entire police force is to
nurture the police force, to make sure they're okay and
reassure them. Keep us focused on the positives and what
we need to do to reform, but continue to build.
We've got great relationships and I'm mindful that the cronial
process is still alive. But this is a story from
(11:52):
twenty nineteen, proceeding that we've done an incredible nearly five
years ago. We've done an incredible amount of work to
reform the police force, and we're still doing that work now.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
All right, Police Commissioner, I want to move along to
some of the issues that are absolutely concerning Territorians at
this point in time. I spoke at length about it yesterday,
that crime series at Casarina and in the city which
occurred on Monday.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
I mean reports that an eighty one year.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Old woman was allegedly rolled by three yearths, one of
them seven years old. Are we seeing a real decrease
in the age of kids offending?
Speaker 3 (12:29):
No, no, we're not. So it's disgraceful to see a
seven and eleven and a thirteen year old attack a
eighty one year old woman and take a bag. That's unacceptable.
They are armed with a knife. We are seeing in
the younger cohort more violent offending. The knife review show
that knives weren't that prevalent in youth, but we've got
(12:51):
the wanting powers and that preventative powers are beginning us
in certain places try and preemp that stuff.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
People are going to be scoffing at the radio right
now hearing that knives aren't prevalent within the youth, when
then you know, almost daily we're hearing about youths holding
people up well, threatening people with knives.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
I probably should correct that when the review was conducted,
historical data didn't present that bet By. You are correct.
We are seeing young people that are armed with a
range of knives, screwdrivers, weapons, and we're trying to work
through what that looks like about the association of weapons
as well. So this is bigger issues about trauma and
cognitive learning, and this is where the investment lies in
(13:30):
education and schooling and housing and health. So they're the
big ticket issues that actually need to resolve this. And
we know that domestic violence offending, we see really high
rates of that impacts youth behavior and what they actually
accept as normal or not normal. To behave like this
in public.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
It doesn't give kids the right to run re mark
and hold people up with knives.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
So it does it, It absolutely does not, and you know,
it really concerns me and troubles me and keeps me
up at night. Some of the behaviors we're seeing, we
see later in the day, five years who think it's
okay to come into Darwin City, go into two service stations,
steal from their approach another member of the public, try
and steal their positions. You've been subject to the same behaviors, Katie,
(14:11):
and then go into a licensed premisis and do a
stick up there. But I can I I want to
prevent that stuff from happening, and we need to work
with territory families. But I can commend the CCTV operators,
the Canine General duties and detectives on the swift resolution
to locate, identify, and actually seese cash, weapons and the
stolen property associated with them. But four of the five
(14:34):
are under the age of criminal responsibility.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
So they from Darwin? Are they local kids? Are from community?
Where are they from?
Speaker 3 (14:40):
I don't know, Katie. I'm sorry, but because to me.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Like I honestly, you know, I had a kid that
looked like he was my son's ah, my son's ten
years old. Look me in the eye, they tell me
he's an f and gangster. And then another one jump
at me and try and steal a phone. You know,
like what happened to me is absolutely on the low
end of offending as far as I'm concerned. I was, okay,
you know, I'm all right, But I look at that
and I think, what if a kid does that to
my child and then they've got a knife, or what
(15:04):
if a kid does that to my mother who can't
defend herself. And that's how the community feels right now.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Yeah, look at it. It concerns me, and we're doing
everything we can to minimize this disruption. We need to
work out we see the rates of recidivism as well.
So this cohort of three plus five, they get referred
to territory families as well, who will research their background
and what measures they need to put in place, and
those you know what it looks like as far as
bail management, whether they get placed into locations for better
(15:32):
control and reform, that's all work that's underway at the moment.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Does education then get notified that they're not at school.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
Well, yes they would be because we see these are
ongoing discussions we have around their education attendance. You know,
the rate of people not enrolled in schools versus the
rate of enrolled who don't attend. The ones who don't
attend and not enroll the ones usually coming to our attention.
And I know, I know that Minster Monahan is really
focused on this and the CEO Karen Western.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
They need to be right like they need to be
what's going on right now. It needs an absolute hole
of community, whole of government approach. People are so fed up,
they're so over having to deal with this, and right
now a lot of us feel as though the police
are like the last line of defense in terms of
you know, your home's getting broken into, You're feeling like
you've got no protection of yourself. You're feeling like if
(16:23):
you stand up to somebody, you're going to be the
one who ends up in strife.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
The important thing to remember, as we are involved in
an incredibly reactive environment, we're trying to flip it to
go to the proactive and with the Territory Safety Division,
that's a body of work. As they form and grow,
they will make a difference in the prevention and engagement.
And you know, it's about target management too, and about
making a difference to be in hotspots and locations where
(16:47):
people are believed to be committing crimes. But I need
the community support to you to report crimes so we
can get a picture, a clear picture of crime or
activity or suspicious behavior anywhere.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Commissioner, I know your pressed for time.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
You've got to get to a press conference, but I've
got a couple of things i want to get through.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Just on that youth crime stuff.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Last week, kids allegedly targeting police cars who are on bail.
Does it worry you that you've got kids being released
on bail by the judiciary and they're then putting themselves
the lives of others on the road, you know, other
people in their vehicles, kids trying.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
To get to school, and of course police in danger.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
Yeah. Absolutely, the behavior of these young people and the
absolute disregard for public safety and the safety of you know,
and it's been pointed out that school kids will walking
to school at the same time, but putting officers safety
who are enforcing the law at risk is totally unacceptable.
We do our job, we collect the evidence we put
the evidence back before the court for the judiciary to
(17:43):
make a decision. You know, if we're not satisfied with
that decision, we've got avenues to appeal that to the
Supreme Court.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Has there been situations where you have.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
Yes, we have. We don't do it all the time,
but it's got to be based. And we have a
conversation with the Director of Public Prosecutions about the merit
of an application because obviously that's quite serious because you're
going to the Supreme Court on a judicial review. But
their matters available to us, and you know, at the
end of the day, when they breach new offending on
new crimes on bail, they will go back to court
(18:12):
and then the judge can make another determination based on
their offending whilst at liberty, and they made a commitment
to court not to do that. So it needs to
be treated really seriously.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
Police Commissioner, how's Alice Springs going from your perspective? I
mean they're continuously is vision shared from Alice Springs horrifying stuff.
You know a lot of people there are just absolutely
at their wits end. We've seen further vision go viral,
the Spanion sharing a video of Alice Springs, I believe
saying something along the lines of it's the worst place
he's ever seen.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
Yeah, I haven't seen that video. I got told about
it as I walked in, but I actually haven't seen it.
I was in Alice on Monday. I've spent a lot
of time in Alice across January and December as well. Look,
we are working incredibly hard. Do the problem still exist. Absolutely,
We've still got youth that are on the street. The
corresponse model work to an extent getting kids off the
street and identifying what the issues are to get them
(19:03):
in a place of safety. A lot of the times
there's not a place of safety at home. We're seeing
still out off entry is still quite high, but you
know overnight, even the recent past, there's been a decrease.
But when it's unacceptable people's houses getting breken into, when
their cars are being stolen, then then the cars are
driving erradically and targeting police. So it's still concerning. But
(19:25):
we're still continuing to plan what that looks like and
that probably leads into policing effectiveness and we'll see the
recruitment of the transition of the palis to police constables.
So We've got thirty three of them commencing on the
leventh of March, which is really exciting. In sixteen weeks
a majority of them will return back to our springs
to be constables.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Is it going to mean, though, that we don't have
palis on bottle shops? That was the concern that was
raised by Nathan Finn, the president of the Police Association.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
There'll be a couple of palis remaining that can still
continue to do the bottle shop duties.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
Does that literally mean too or how many?
Speaker 3 (19:58):
I think we've still got ten in our springs, but
there's only a handful available for deployment. But there's going
to be more planning around mobility and working with licensing,
so licensing inspectors can actually go to the bottle shops.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
So licensing inspectors are going to step in to that role.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
Yes, that's all we're working through at the moment.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
So are you confident that'll work?
Speaker 3 (20:18):
Oh? Yeah, I am. It's about questioning people when before
they put they've got powers under the Act exactly like us.
So it's about just putting that governance in place about
where the consumption of alcohol is. Is it lawful to
reduce harm? Essentially, and you know the work being undertaken
for a more effective BDR and that's really promising as well.
But the alcohol restrictions in our springs still assist this greatly.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
Yeah, that was going to be my final question this morning.
Tourism Central Australia has written to the Chief Minister asking
for a relaxation period or at least a trial I guess,
or those alcohol restrictions in Ola Springs of rolling them back.
Do you think that we're in a situation where that
can even be looked at right now they.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
Can be discussed. I don't welcome it. I welcome the
continued districtions in place across the two free days and
the hours training. It definitely offers us respite and controls
the crime narrative as well. Do we say issues with
secondary supply, Yes, and we've got to do a body
of work around that.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
And we are when you talk about some of the
issues that we've got up here in the top end,
I mean you say domestic violence is the biggest concern
for Northern Territory police. I mean we see that every
single day. We talk about it all the time. You know,
there's a case going through the courts at the moment
where a woman was allegedly stabbed to death and you know,
at the hands of her partner in a public location
(21:33):
on Freshwater Drive. I mean, this is the kind of
stuff that we report on so often. I mean, are
are our alcohol laws in the Northern Territory at the moment?
Speaker 2 (21:44):
I mean, does there need to be further look into that?
Across the board?
Speaker 3 (21:48):
I'm always looking at alcohol laws and what it means.
And it's a lawful product that's regulated. But does it
cause it's the harmonable for us? Absolutely? Then you hit
the nail on the head. Yes, domestic violence, intimate partner homicide,
public places, ol cooco tune is the main risk for us.
The work by the Territory Safety Coordination Center is integral
(22:09):
with the coordination of all patrolling aspects and the whole
of government to address rough sleeping, safety of people, returning
people to country and minimizing those associated harms and controlling
that risk.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Police Commissioner, you have got to get out of here.
I really appreciate your time this morning. That's not me
saying you've got to get out of here. That's your
staff telling you you've got.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
To wrap up.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Thank you very much for your time today. Thank you Katie,
thank you you too.
Joining me in the studio right now is the Northern
Territory Police Commissioner Michael Murphy.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Good morning to you. Good morning Katie now, Commissioner.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Before I get into the issues of the day, and
there is a lot to get through, I do want
to just ask you. I've literally just learned that Northern
Territory Police are calling for information after an armed burglary
in Darwin overnight. At about twelve forty five this morning,
police received reports at two males and a female unlawfully
entered a residence on dash would place, armed with a gun.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Yeah, that's great, Katie. So there was three people and
at a unit there was a fifty seven and a
sixty one year old occupant. They've threatened them with a
shotgun and left the premises. We don't have the gun yet,
we don't know who the three people are. We've got
detectives currently working on it incredibly hard. We have deemed
it's a low public safety risk and we suspect that's targeting.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
But I mean in the pressure release it says at
this stage it's not believed the offenders were known to
the victim.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
So I think they're working through that to validate that
now we've got some detectives working on that. We're hoping
for a fairly quick and swift clear up.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
So hang on, so have still I mean, are we
in a situation right now where we have got two
males and a female to the gun who are on
the loose somewhere.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
That's correct? Ya?
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Is that?
Speaker 1 (01:17):
I mean that sounds quite concerning, I think to anybody
listening this morning.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
I've spoken to the Assistant Commissioner of Crime this morning
who spoken directly with the detectives. They've obviously previd information
that I'm not, but I've asked specifically what is the
risk to public safety and advise that it is low.
It's deemed low. They will work very quickly to identify
who these people are. We've got some technology in the
(01:40):
area where the fence could that will help us with
the investigation and we'll clear this up pretty quickly, as
we do with all the other crime times. But this
is being treated very seriously.
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Well, Commissioner. It does sound like it's bloody serious.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
I mean, we've got somebody who's on the loose, So
we've got three people on the loose with a firearm.
To me, that sounds incredibly frightening water assurances can you
give the public this morning that they're not at risk?
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Look, I'm relying upon the information coming from the detectives,
and I've been very specific and my questioning to the
Assistant Commissioner, and I've got a level of confidence that
the public are not at risk, and we'll identify who
these people are and in the efforts of the investigation,
recover the firearm. But there's no need to be alarmed.
We've got detectives working on this and we're resolve it
(02:26):
as quickly as we can.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Okay, there's going to be people listening this morning thinking
why are we just learning about this now when it
happened at twelve forty five this morning.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
I guess it's because we want to get the correct
information out to the public as well. It is pretty
swift to get it out this morning, but the detectives
have to speak to witnesses, consider the time of night,
look at initial inquiries, assess the risk, and then we
you know, we have moved fairly quickly to get their
message out.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
All right, Commissioner, I'm going to move along because there
is so much for us to cover off on this morning,
and we will no doubt stay on top of this
issue that we've become aware of this morning. With these
three people are still out at large at this point
in time. With the firearm, we will certainly stay on
top of that and no doubt your team will let
us know if there's any updated information. But look news
(03:13):
breaking this morning that the Anti Independent reporting that the
Police Minister Brent Potter has shared Facebook posts which have
now been deleted, in which he's reportedly quoted Nazis Vladimir
Putin well in some instances many would deem the post racist.
According to the report, the extensive series of posts included
(03:34):
far right sentiment between twenty thirteen and twenty nineteen, which
appeared to see shortly before he was employed as an
advisor to the former Deputy Chief Minister Nicole Madison. Now
I've not seen all the posts. I've seen some of them,
but I mean we're hearing this, of course, on the
(03:55):
back of a week last week where there was claims
made in the Coronial Ink Quest by Northern Territory Police
Constable Zachary Rolf of systemic racism within the Northern Territory
Police Force Commissioner. First off, have you seen those posts
by the Police minister.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
No, I haven't. I'm aware of the article, but it's
not appropriate for me to comment on the article at
this time.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
I do want to ask so.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
I mean, on Monday, the Chief Minister, Evil Laula said,
I'm concerned about it does worry me about racism. We've
seen that across the world that there is a strong
right wing element around not being accepting of different people,
and in the territory that is one of the absolute
assets of this place is having such a diverse population.
(04:42):
Are you concerned that we may have people entering the
Northern Territory police force or entering high level jobs that
do have quite right wing, very very right wing views.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
I think that's been to a vetting process as well.
I think I'm going back to your other point. I
think we are very to be lucky in the Northern
Territory with the fabric of culture and the diversity of
many cultures and First Nations people and other people that
we can understand culture and we're actually quite protective of
that and we build really good relationships with them. I
think that's the really important part in the territory. We're
(05:16):
quite lucky. We do see the emergence of right wing
thinking and ideology and all sorts of different thinking. In
the advent of social media and global events where people
will comment on things happening around the world, and you
know people, you know, the people on Facebook or other
social platforms make comment own it and we see people
that are influenced by it. That is a concern for us,
(05:36):
and that's actually a national discussion even in law enforcement
and intelligence to assess risk to community. And we're lucky
in the Northern Territory that's not that prevalent.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
I mean, there is going to be people thinking this
morning that, you know, after the comment's made last week
in the coronial and then after these posts that I
know they're historic but have been shared by the police minister,
that we may have a situation where you've got really
very right wing us seeping into the police force.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Look, I don't think so. I think we're impartial, we're professional.
We've got really good relationships with the community. Going back
to the coronial and the testimony of Zachary Rolf and
there's a number of revelations. There was the one about
the TG and the awards that's been referred to. That's
a joint investigation with the IKAK and our Professional Standards Command.
(06:24):
That's underway at the moment. In saying that too, you know,
when the court of history sets in judgment of us,
are they going to judge us on our courage and
our respect and our integrity? Of course, so we've got
to think about what we're doing now to future brief
the police to make sure it's as safe, are culturally
safe and a culturally competent police force, but to look
(06:44):
after our offices and also look after our community.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Is it appropriate that the Northern Territory Police Force?
Speaker 1 (06:50):
Yes, I know the ika's also involved in that investigation,
but is it appropriate that you guys are investigating yourselves.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
There's a level of independence when our Professional Standards Command
a high level of confidence with their capability and with
oversight and involvement of the IKAK. I mean that's unquestionable.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Where are things at with that investigation, it's underway.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
I'm not privy to it. I'll leave that up to
the Commissioner for IKAK and Professional Standards Commander Police Commissioner.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
There's going to be people listening this morning that read
the front page of the paper on the weekend after
it was reported that you are allegedly the person who
made racial slurs in a Chinese restaurant, which former Constable
Zachary Rohlf was referring to at that coronial inquest, Commissioner,
did you make racial slurs?
Speaker 3 (07:35):
To be honest, I can't remember about making any comments racially.
I'm not a racist person.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
I mean, is that a cop out?
Speaker 3 (07:42):
I don't think so. No, it's the truth. And you know,
I can't start making things up to say it happened
or it didn't happen. I just have to rely on
my memory. It's quarter of a century ago, you know,
and appropriately got referred to the IKAK. He's done an inquiry,
he's written a letter back to the coroner. He's shared
that with me on his assessment over the inquiries he's undertaken.
(08:04):
And the thing is that you want to understand it.
Where we're at now is my job and as the
Commissioner of Police, is to make sure we have a
really culturally appropriate workplace that serves a very culturally diverse community.
So we need to get on with the job and
make improvements we've got. Our indigenous workforce is hurting after
the common shoef of last week. Historically, a snapshot. You
(08:27):
talked about systemic racism. I don't think we've got systemic
racism in the human form across the police force. We've
got really hard working people who are committed to public
safety and looking after each other. I'm really committed to
looking after the workforce, our people who work tirelessly, the
community and the future of the Northern Territory Police Force.
I think it's really really important to be aware that
(08:49):
you know that we may have systemic racism, institutional racism
as far as our policy settings and barriers for people
with diverse backgrounds that we need to challenge and reform
to make sure that I've set an aspirational target that
thirty percent of the community of the Northern Territories abergeon
on Torrestraight Islanders. We've only got thirteen percent representation in
the workforce, So I need to set an aspirational target
(09:12):
to make sure the police force is representative of the
people we serve.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Police Commissioner, what action is going to be taken though,
if this investigation into offices allegedly making racist comments and
having that racist award within well what was claimed was
a racist award within the TRG is found to be accurate.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Well, that's a matter for the Commissioner, Nayakak and Professional
Standards Command who will do the appropriate referrals based on
the collection of evidence in their assessment. That's probably too
early to look at what type of penalty exists, or
I think we just need to be impartial, let an
investigation run and search for the truth.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
Police Commissioner.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
At the moment, you know, there's so many people that
are really looking to the police and are so grateful
right for the work that you guys do. Lo even
myself earlier in the week, you go this like there
is so much going on in the community that people
are really unhappy with. But then when you hear these
claims made and then you know, even when you read
this article this morning, you think their looks like there
(10:10):
is a big gap that needs to be breached between
the community and our Northern Territory Police Force for us
to move forward.
Speaker 2 (10:16):
How do you do that?
Speaker 3 (10:19):
I think we need to be courageous, We need to
challenge the way we do things and how we think,
and we need to be inclusive. We have that. We
went through a really hard time since two thousand and nineteen,
but we've got really strong bonds with the community. We
work incredibly hard for the community. We are the community.
We don't underestimate the amount of work we have to
do to continue to repair relationships and reform the police
(10:42):
force in community engagement and not reactive where you know,
we're looking at so many different aspects about diversification and
challenging current thinking. We do have a lot of work
to do. Absolutely, but and going back to the point,
like I can't acknowledge the hard working office is enough.
I mean, they are incredible busy. We haven't had any respite.
(11:02):
It's just every day there's events occurring, whether it's youth,
whether it's social order, whether it's road fatalities. We're incredibly busy.
And you know, they work incredibly hard, tirelessly, sometimes sacrificing
their time with their family to bring closure to events
like we'll see probably with the unlawful entry with the
firearm this morning. They'll be working incredibly hard to bring
this to a conclusion, to reassure the public we've got this.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
Do you think that these claims that have been made
over the last couple of weeks have been damaging to
the police.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
Absolutely, yes they have. And my job and the job
of the team and the entire police force is to
nurture the police force, to make sure they're okay and
reassure them. Keep us focused on the positives and what
we need to do to reform, but continue to build.
We've got great relationships and I'm mindful that the cronial
process is still alive. But this is a story from
(11:52):
twenty nineteen, proceeding that we've done an incredible nearly five
years ago. We've done an incredible amount of work to
reform the police force, and we're still doing that work now.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
All right, Police Commissioner, I want to move along to
some of the issues that are absolutely concerning Territorians at
this point in time. I spoke at length about it yesterday,
that crime series at Casarina and in the city which
occurred on Monday.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
I mean reports that an eighty one year.
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Old woman was allegedly rolled by three yearths, one of
them seven years old. Are we seeing a real decrease
in the age of kids offending?
Speaker 3 (12:29):
No, no, we're not. So it's disgraceful to see a
seven and eleven and a thirteen year old attack a
eighty one year old woman and take a bag. That's unacceptable.
They are armed with a knife. We are seeing in
the younger cohort more violent offending. The knife review show
that knives weren't that prevalent in youth, but we've got
(12:51):
the wanting powers and that preventative powers are beginning us
in certain places try and preemp that stuff.
Speaker 1 (12:55):
People are going to be scoffing at the radio right
now hearing that knives aren't prevalent within the youth, when
then you know, almost daily we're hearing about youths holding
people up well, threatening people with knives.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
I probably should correct that when the review was conducted,
historical data didn't present that bet By. You are correct.
We are seeing young people that are armed with a
range of knives, screwdrivers, weapons, and we're trying to work
through what that looks like about the association of weapons
as well. So this is bigger issues about trauma and
cognitive learning, and this is where the investment lies in
(13:30):
education and schooling and housing and health. So they're the
big ticket issues that actually need to resolve this. And
we know that domestic violence offending, we see really high
rates of that impacts youth behavior and what they actually
accept as normal or not normal. To behave like this
in public.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
It doesn't give kids the right to run re mark
and hold people up with knives.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
So it does it, It absolutely does not, and you know,
it really concerns me and troubles me and keeps me
up at night. Some of the behaviors we're seeing, we
see later in the day, five years who think it's
okay to come into Darwin City, go into two service stations,
steal from their approach another member of the public, try
and steal their positions. You've been subject to the same behaviors, Katie,
(14:11):
and then go into a licensed premisis and do a
stick up there. But I can I I want to
prevent that stuff from happening, and we need to work
with territory families. But I can commend the CCTV operators,
the Canine General duties and detectives on the swift resolution
to locate, identify, and actually seese cash, weapons and the
stolen property associated with them. But four of the five
(14:34):
are under the age of criminal responsibility.
Speaker 2 (14:36):
So they from Darwin? Are they local kids? Are from community?
Where are they from?
Speaker 3 (14:40):
I don't know, Katie. I'm sorry, but because to me.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Like I honestly, you know, I had a kid that
looked like he was my son's ah, my son's ten
years old. Look me in the eye, they tell me
he's an f and gangster. And then another one jump
at me and try and steal a phone. You know,
like what happened to me is absolutely on the low
end of offending as far as I'm concerned. I was, okay,
you know, I'm all right, But I look at that
and I think, what if a kid does that to
my child and then they've got a knife, or what
(15:04):
if a kid does that to my mother who can't
defend herself. And that's how the community feels right now.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
Yeah, look at it. It concerns me, and we're doing
everything we can to minimize this disruption. We need to
work out we see the rates of recidivism as well.
So this cohort of three plus five, they get referred
to territory families as well, who will research their background
and what measures they need to put in place, and
those you know what it looks like as far as
bail management, whether they get placed into locations for better
(15:32):
control and reform, that's all work that's underway at the moment.
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Does education then get notified that they're not at school.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
Well, yes they would be because we see these are
ongoing discussions we have around their education attendance. You know,
the rate of people not enrolled in schools versus the
rate of enrolled who don't attend. The ones who don't
attend and not enroll the ones usually coming to our attention.
And I know, I know that Minster Monahan is really
focused on this and the CEO Karen Western.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
They need to be right like they need to be
what's going on right now. It needs an absolute hole
of community, whole of government approach. People are so fed up,
they're so over having to deal with this, and right
now a lot of us feel as though the police
are like the last line of defense in terms of
you know, your home's getting broken into, You're feeling like
you've got no protection of yourself. You're feeling like if
(16:23):
you stand up to somebody, you're going to be the
one who ends up in strife.
Speaker 3 (16:26):
The important thing to remember, as we are involved in
an incredibly reactive environment, we're trying to flip it to
go to the proactive and with the Territory Safety Division,
that's a body of work. As they form and grow,
they will make a difference in the prevention and engagement.
And you know, it's about target management too, and about
making a difference to be in hotspots and locations where
(16:47):
people are believed to be committing crimes. But I need
the community support to you to report crimes so we
can get a picture, a clear picture of crime or
activity or suspicious behavior anywhere.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
Commissioner, I know your pressed for time.
Speaker 1 (17:00):
You've got to get to a press conference, but I've
got a couple of things i want to get through.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Just on that youth crime stuff.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Last week, kids allegedly targeting police cars who are on bail.
Does it worry you that you've got kids being released
on bail by the judiciary and they're then putting themselves
the lives of others on the road, you know, other
people in their vehicles, kids trying.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
To get to school, and of course police in danger.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
Yeah. Absolutely, the behavior of these young people and the
absolute disregard for public safety and the safety of you know,
and it's been pointed out that school kids will walking
to school at the same time, but putting officers safety
who are enforcing the law at risk is totally unacceptable.
We do our job, we collect the evidence we put
the evidence back before the court for the judiciary to
(17:43):
make a decision. You know, if we're not satisfied with
that decision, we've got avenues to appeal that to the
Supreme Court.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Has there been situations where you have.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
Yes, we have. We don't do it all the time,
but it's got to be based. And we have a
conversation with the Director of Public Prosecutions about the merit
of an application because obviously that's quite serious because you're
going to the Supreme Court on a judicial review. But
their matters available to us, and you know, at the
end of the day, when they breach new offending on
new crimes on bail, they will go back to court
(18:12):
and then the judge can make another determination based on
their offending whilst at liberty, and they made a commitment
to court not to do that. So it needs to
be treated really seriously.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
Police Commissioner, how's Alice Springs going from your perspective? I
mean they're continuously is vision shared from Alice Springs horrifying stuff.
You know a lot of people there are just absolutely
at their wits end. We've seen further vision go viral,
the Spanion sharing a video of Alice Springs, I believe
saying something along the lines of it's the worst place
he's ever seen.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
Yeah, I haven't seen that video. I got told about
it as I walked in, but I actually haven't seen it.
I was in Alice on Monday. I've spent a lot
of time in Alice across January and December as well. Look,
we are working incredibly hard. Do the problem still exist. Absolutely,
We've still got youth that are on the street. The
corresponse model work to an extent getting kids off the
street and identifying what the issues are to get them
(19:03):
in a place of safety. A lot of the times
there's not a place of safety at home. We're seeing
still out off entry is still quite high, but you
know overnight, even the recent past, there's been a decrease.
But when it's unacceptable people's houses getting breken into, when
their cars are being stolen, then then the cars are
driving erradically and targeting police. So it's still concerning. But
(19:25):
we're still continuing to plan what that looks like and
that probably leads into policing effectiveness and we'll see the
recruitment of the transition of the palis to police constables.
So We've got thirty three of them commencing on the
leventh of March, which is really exciting. In sixteen weeks
a majority of them will return back to our springs
to be constables.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Is it going to mean, though, that we don't have
palis on bottle shops? That was the concern that was
raised by Nathan Finn, the president of the Police Association.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
There'll be a couple of palis remaining that can still
continue to do the bottle shop duties.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
Does that literally mean too or how many?
Speaker 3 (19:58):
I think we've still got ten in our springs, but
there's only a handful available for deployment. But there's going
to be more planning around mobility and working with licensing,
so licensing inspectors can actually go to the bottle shops.
Speaker 1 (20:10):
So licensing inspectors are going to step in to that role.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
Yes, that's all we're working through at the moment.
Speaker 2 (20:15):
So are you confident that'll work?
Speaker 3 (20:18):
Oh? Yeah, I am. It's about questioning people when before
they put they've got powers under the Act exactly like us.
So it's about just putting that governance in place about
where the consumption of alcohol is. Is it lawful to
reduce harm? Essentially, and you know the work being undertaken
for a more effective BDR and that's really promising as well.
But the alcohol restrictions in our springs still assist this greatly.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
Yeah, that was going to be my final question this morning.
Tourism Central Australia has written to the Chief Minister asking
for a relaxation period or at least a trial I guess,
or those alcohol restrictions in Ola Springs of rolling them back.
Do you think that we're in a situation where that
can even be looked at right now they.
Speaker 3 (20:55):
Can be discussed. I don't welcome it. I welcome the
continued districtions in place across the two free days and
the hours training. It definitely offers us respite and controls
the crime narrative as well. Do we say issues with
secondary supply, Yes, and we've got to do a body
of work around that.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
And we are when you talk about some of the
issues that we've got up here in the top end,
I mean you say domestic violence is the biggest concern
for Northern Territory police. I mean we see that every
single day. We talk about it all the time. You know,
there's a case going through the courts at the moment
where a woman was allegedly stabbed to death and you know,
at the hands of her partner in a public location
(21:33):
on Freshwater Drive. I mean, this is the kind of
stuff that we report on so often. I mean, are
are our alcohol laws in the Northern Territory at the moment?
Speaker 2 (21:44):
I mean, does there need to be further look into that?
Across the board?
Speaker 3 (21:48):
I'm always looking at alcohol laws and what it means.
And it's a lawful product that's regulated. But does it
cause it's the harmonable for us? Absolutely? Then you hit
the nail on the head. Yes, domestic violence, intimate partner homicide,
public places, ol cooco tune is the main risk for us.
The work by the Territory Safety Coordination Center is integral
(22:09):
with the coordination of all patrolling aspects and the whole
of government to address rough sleeping, safety of people, returning
people to country and minimizing those associated harms and controlling
that risk.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Police Commissioner, you have got to get out of here.
I really appreciate your time this morning. That's not me
saying you've got to get out of here. That's your
staff telling you you've got.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
To wrap up.
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Thank you very much for your time today. Thank you Katie,
thank you you too.
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