Report into racism in NT Police Force sparked by TRG awards finds evidence of ‘historical racism’, concludes investigation be closed
In short:
An investigation into allegations of racism within the NT Police Force has found no further evidence of racist behaviour since 2015 and concluded the matter be closed.
It also found there was “no admissible evidence” to charge or further investigate five police officers who swore statutory declarations refuting allegations of racism within the Territory Response Group (TRG).
NT Police Commissioner Michael Murphy says the force accepts the report’s findings and will continue to “learn from and acknowledge [its] past”.
An investigation into racism within the Northern Territory Police Force, which previously uncovered racist awards deemed too “offensive” for public release, has found no further evidence of racist behaviour in the force since 2015 and concluded the matter be closed.
WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the name of an Indigenous person who has died, used with the permission of their family.
This story also contains racist and offensive language and images.
Allegations of racist awards handed out among members of NT police’s specialist Territory Response Group (TRG) emerged earlier this year during the high-profile coronial inquest into the 2019 police shooting death of Kumanjayi Walker.
That evidence prompted the NT Independent Commissioner Against Corruption (ICAC) and NT Police Force to start a joint investigation into racism within the force, which was criticised at the time.
Earlier in the investigation, NT ICAC Commissioner Michael Riches, who is on indefinite leave, called the TRG awards “racist” and too “offensive” to publish.
The investigation’s findings were published on Thursday in a report authored by ICAC delegate, former judge Patricia Kelly SC.
She found some of the TRG certificates part of the investigation were “evidently on their face racist”.
“It is difficult to conclude how any person of reasonable intelligence could conclude otherwise,” she said.
But Ms Kelly said while the investigation had uncovered “some evidence of historical racism within the police force, despite a very thorough investigation there has not been any evidence of any further racist conduct or material produced after 2015”.
She concluded the lack of recent evidence of racism meant the investigation should end.
“To a large extent this investigation has already fulfilled one of its objectives by highlighting historical evidence of racism within the TRG,” she said.
“I am satisfied that there is no utility in investigating this matter any further, the investigation should be closed.”
Ms Kelly said the NT Police Force had taken “positive action” to prevent racist conduct in future, citing Police Commissioner Michael Murphy’s public apology at this year’s Garma Festival and the appointment of former lawyer and police officer Leanne Liddle to help combat racism within the force.
She also noted the Office of the ICAC (OICAC) “does not have the resources to conduct any further wide-ranging investigation into racism within any unit of the NTPF”.
“Nor in my view, given the positive steps already taken by the NTPF is it necessary,” she said.
The report did not make any recommendations.
‘No admissible evidence’ to charge or investigate individual officers
The report also discussed five NT police officers who, in response to the allegations of racism within the TRG made during the inquest, swore statutory declarations refuting the claims.
“In various ways, each contended that the “Nugedah” award was given to the TRG member who had acted in an unhygienic manner, however that the award had no relationship to race,” Ms Kelly said.
Commissioner Riches earlier publicly called for current and former police officers to come forward and provide information to the investigation, promising anonymity.
Ms Kelly said a “number of” officers had come forward.
However, following legal advice sought from the crown counsel within the NT solicitor-general’s office, Ms Kelly determined “it would be inappropriate to disclose any of those declarations”, to uphold Commissioner Riches’s promise of anonymity.
“For that reason, none of the declarations provided by police officers or former police officers … were disclosed to the police or the Director of Public Prosecutions,” she said.
Ms Kelly found there was “no admissible evidence” to charge or further investigate any of the five officers, largely because they did not have the opportunity to read or comment on the evidence against them, which was redacted.
She said in the declarations that had been made but could not be disclosed, there were “some statements which tend to contradict some of the statements made by the five police officers”.
One of the officers also later acknowledged the awards were racist and apologised.
Ms Kelly said the police investigation part of the review had been “very thorough” and included analysis of data stored on the force’s electronic system, including the TRG drive.
Police commissioner accepts report’s conclusions
In a statement, NT Police Commissioner Michael Murphy said the force accepted the conclusions of the report.
He said the force would continue to “learn from and acknowledge [its] past”.
“The Northern Territory Police force has made and will continue to make significant strides in driving institutional change,” he said.
“We are committed to creating and delivering on a culture of safety, integrity, accountability, and professionalism.”
“There is no place for racism or discrimination within our ranks.”
He said the force remained committed to maintaining public trust and ensuring any concerns raised were “thoroughly investigated and appropriately addressed”.
NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said the ICAC’s findings confirmed her Country Liberal Party government’s belief that there was not systemic racism within the police force.
“I think this ends a chapter which has caused great stress and destabilisation in our police force,” she said.
“We’ve always stood by our police on this issue and we continue to stand by them”.
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