A Northern Territory police Sergeant shared an explicit photo of an Aboriginal woman accompanied by “inappropriate and racist language” to a group chat with other officers in Alice Springs, an inquest has heard.
The NT Police Commissioner Michael Murphy confirmed the officer was disciplined by the Professional Standards Command in relation to the incident in 2022.
The officer was demoted and transferred to Katherine, but after being contacted by the NT Police Association to review the decision, Commissioner Murphy told the coroner he “rescinded” the demotion.
The officer was instead place on a 12-month good behaviour bond and transferred to Darwin where he remains on the force as a Sergeant.
When questioned on why the demotion was reversed, Commissioner Murphy said he felt the punishment was “disproportionate”.
However, he later revealed part of the decision came down to keeping the officer on active duty under the assumption the officer would have abused the unlimited sick leave entitled to NT police.
“In all honesty he would have gone on sick leave, we would have lost an officer,” Commissioner Murphy told the court.
The counsel assisting the coroner Peggy Dwyer later put to the commissioner a culture of misusing sick leave to avoid disciplinary action.
“So it’s clear that there has been a culture of misuse of sick leave in some areas of the force?” Counsel Assist the coroner Peggy Dwyer said.
“Yes there has been, that is evident,” Commissioner Murphy responded.
The revelations come just months after a separate inquest in February saw former Police Constable Zachary Rolfe detail claims of entrenched racism in the force.
At the time Commissioner Murphy said he hadn’t seen racist behavior when traveling to Alice Springs or other parts of the Territory.
