Innocent NT cop shut out of his job

Killing an Aborigine is unforgiveable, regardless of the circumstances.  Putting him back on normal duty would lead to an uproar from all the usual suspects.  For cowardly PR reasons he had to be hidden away.  How that affects him personally the police leadership does not care about.  Violent Aborigines must be condoned, not their own officers doing their duty

Northern Territory policeman Zachary Rolfe – who has ­ returned to work months after being found not guilty of murdering Kumanjayi Walker – ­remains banned from entering any police premises or performing normal duties.

Despite Constable Rolfe being reinstated as a serving member of the Territory’s police force, its executive has revoked the 30-year-old’s access to any police ­facilities and refused to ­return his police identification to him since his return to work on July 18.

The Weekend Australian understands Constable Rolfe has been relegated to desk duties at a nondescript government ­office building in Darwin as a ­result of formal complaints from other officers involved in his prosecution.

It is understood that one of the complaints is from Sergeant Julie Frost, who was the officer in charge at Yuendumu, 300km northwest of Alice Springs, on the night of the shooting and who had, that day, requested an ­Immediate Response Team (IRT) to arrest Walker.

Sergeant Frost has allegedly claimed she would be “triggered” if she saw Constable Rolfe at work.

During the trial, Sergeant Frost gave conflicting evidence to Constable Rolfe’s and that of his IRT colleagues.

The IRT members said their instructions were to arrest Walker as soon as possible upon ­arrival at Yuendumu, while Sergeant Frost testified that she had directed the team to arrest Walker at 5am the next day.

Constable Rolfe’s barrister, David Edwardson QC, also accused Sergeant Frost of concealing a five-page chronology of events she wrote in the days after Walker’s death.

Constable Rolfe refused to comment on Friday, but his ­father, Richard, has accused the NT police brass of trying to force his son to commit suicide by making his return to work difficult and his position within the organisation untenable.

“I believe (police commissioner) Jamie Chalker has done everything possible to push Zach to commit suicide by deliberately isolating him from his peers,” he said.

“He’s been locked away in a government building working without any contact with other frontline officers, while restricted to working on a computer.”

He said his son had gone on stress leave and would not return to work until the coronial inquest into Walker’s death starts on September 5.

Constable Rolfe is on the inquest’s draft witness list but has not yet been subpoenaed to give evidence.

NT police declined to comment other than to say that “the safety and wellbeing of all employees is an ongoing priority”.

“We do not discuss individual cases to maintain their privacy,” a spokesman said.

Northern Territory Police ­Association president Paul McCue also declined an interview. “Matters relating to the internal deployment of Constable Rolfe are confidential and we continue to assist him in his return to work after a long absence,” he said.

Constable Rolfe was immediately suspended from duty in ­November 2019 after he fatally shot Walker during an arrest at Yuendumu.

He had been one of four IRT members deployed from Alice Springs to Yuendumu to execute an arrest warrant for Walker on four charges, including assaulting police with an axe and breaching his suspended sentence.

During the arrest, Constable Rolfe shot Walker three times after the teenager stabbed him with a pair of stainless-steel surgical scissors and attempted to stab his police partner Adam Eberl. Days later, he was charged with the 19-year-old’s murder.

In June last year, alternative charges of manslaughter and ­violent act causing death were added to his indictment.

In March, a jury found Constable Rolfe not guilty on all three charges after a five-week trial in Darwin.

Hours after his acquittal, NT police directed Constable Rolfe to take leave while they dealt with dozens of alleged serious breaches of discipline that ­included excessive-use-of-force ­allegations, speaking to the media and the contents of private text messages found on his phone.

The 55-year-old female officer in charge of Constable Rolfe’s disciplinary matters has since been charged with assault and is due to appear in the Darwin Local Court on September 20. Constable Rolfe was cleared to return to work last month and all dis­ciplinary matters have been ­resolved.

The West Australian also understands that he was forced, last Friday, to participate in a directed interview about the shooting.

A recent NTPA ballot of more than 1000 NT police found that 79.7 per cent of ­respondents did not have confidence in Commissioner Chalker; officers also expressed dissatisfaction with other issues including ­resourcing, staffing and morale.

On Friday night, former policeman and Territory politician Mark Turner called for a royal commission into policing in the Territory. The Labor MP, who trains with Constable Rolfe at a mental health boxing club for emergency first responders, said the survey results painted a “damning picture”.

“We must protect our protectors,” he said. “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. Whilst commentary will swirl on the future of the Police Commissioner; I cannot see how his position is tenable.”

Commissioner Chalker responded to the survey by saying he had been “aware of the confidence sentiment for some time”.

“The job we do is incredibly demanding and the health and wellbeing of our members is our priority,” he said.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/innocent-nt-kill-cop-zachary-rolfe-shut-out-of-his-job/news-story/7eea18cc8a0ba3e1a0542df4d6afe037