00:00A childhood dream, now a reality.
00:05Martin Dole APM will be the 15th Police Commissioner of the Northern Territory.
00:10The Territory's first cop to be based in the Red Centre.
00:13Dole has risen through the ranks and is now in his 29th year as a Territory Police Officer.
00:18A boy from Alice Springs, someone who has dedicated his entire life to serving the people of the Northern Territory.
00:27I'm incredibly honoured and privileged to be asked to continue to take on this role
00:32and lead the Northern Territory Police Force into the future.
00:35In recent years, Dole has confronted a period of violent crime in his home town
00:40and a time of turmoil for the force through the landmark coronial inquest into the death of Koemanjai Walker,
00:46which heard evidence of institutional racism within the NT Police Force.
00:50To the people of the Northern Territory, can I say to you, my commitment to you
00:55is to continue to build on restoring trust and confidence in the Northern Territory Police Force.
01:02Seven months ago, he was handed the job of acting police commissioner
01:05after his predecessor, Michael Murphy, was stood aside.
01:09Following a finding from the NT's corruption watchdog,
01:12he helped recruit a good friend to a high-ranking job in the police force.
01:16Murphy was sacked and an inquiry was triggered, looking into his other appointments,
01:21including that of Martin Dole himself to the position of assistant commissioner.
01:25It's great to have you in this leadership position.
01:28An independent review into the matter was released last week
01:31and while it found recruitment processes in the police need to be improved,
01:35Martin Dole's appointment was cleared.
01:37Commissioner Dole has been appointed on those principles.
01:40This is about merit. This is about merit for the role and merit for the rank.
01:44The police union, however, concerned the new commissioner was a captain's pick
01:48without a proper national recruitment process.
01:51In a statement today, NT Police Association President Nathan Finn asked,
01:56How can the Chief Minister possibly declare there is no better person in this country
02:00to be the police commissioner when there was no recruitment process at all?
02:04Describing the decision to make a direct appointment as mind-boggling.
02:08Martin Dole will be sworn in on the 31st of October here at Government House in Darwin.
02:14As the Territory's third police commissioner in as many years,
02:17he's hoping he can provide confidence and stability for his officers.
02:21My commitment to you as the next commissioner of the Northern Territory Police Force
02:25is continue to ensure that you've got the resources you need,
02:30the legislation that empowers you,
02:32and the support from the leadership of this organisation
02:35that you need to continue to do your job to keep the Northern Territory safe.
02:39A boy from the bush looking to forge real change.
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