Latest news with #Kintore
ABC News
23-05-2025
- ABC News
Inquest exposes pressure on remote NT police ahead of officer's suicide
WARNING: This story contains references to suicide and self-harm and will be distressing for some readers. An inquest into the death of a veteran Northern Territory police officer has laid bare the intense pressure facing remote frontline officers struggling to live up to the lofty standards they set for themselves. Constable Michael Deutrom took his own life in April 2022, three months after taking personal leave from his posting in the remote community of Kintore in the territory's south-west. An inquest in the Darwin Local Court this week heard Constable Deutrom had recently been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at the time, after more than two decades in the force. In his opening address on Monday, counsel assisting the coroner, Chris McGorey, said he anticipated the evidence would show Constable Deutrom's PTSD was a result of "accumulated effects that arose from his continued exposure to trauma and stress over his long career". During five days of hearings this week, Territory Coroner Elisabeth Armitage heard Constable Deutrom applied for the two-year posting at Kintore, starting in May 2021, after years spent in general duties in Darwin. In his application, which was out read in court, Constable Deutrom said he was drawn to the community 530km west of Alice Springs — one of the most remote stations in Australia — by the reduced workload compared to city policing. But by the end of the year, Constable Deutrom's brother Tony told the court he sensed he was frustrated by a lack of resourcing, which affected his ability to do his job, and the increased pressures of the COVID-19 response. Mr McGorey said Constable Deutrom also told a psychologist he was finding the environment at Kintore "very stressful" amid repeated burglaries and threats of self-harm and "he was on call virtually 24 hours a day". Constable Deutrom told the psychologist he believed in the mantra repeated throughout his career, taken from the Police Ode and adopted by NT Police — "service above self" — but was finding it increasingly difficult to live by. By early 2022, Mr McGorey said Constable Deutrom was in a very vulnerable state" and may have reached a "tipping point" where things became so acute he was not able to continue managing in the role. After leaving Kintore, Constable Deutrom travelled to Adelaide where he stayed with his parents until his death on April 16. A general practitioner had reported hearing him repeat the police mantra eight days earlier and investigators found diary entries addressed to the 44-year-old's family: "I just can't keep fighting inside myself. I'm sorry to you all." Tanya Rutherford, who lived and worked alongside Constable Deutrom in Kintore, told the court the posting was "the best time of my career" but "also the worst". "When the community was calm, there weren't many jobs we had to attend," she said. "When the community was a bit on edge or disruptive, there would be jobs that would go on for weeks." Senior Constable Rutherford said she had once been rostered "one-up" as the only police officer in the community for 35 days straight due to staff shortages. "Our boss said, 'I'm sorry, Kintore, you're going to be one-up this week'," she said. "Later on in the conversation they said 'It's going to be the entire roster [because] we haven't got any staff'. That was very hard. "I actually broke down a few times. I spoke to the boss and he was really upset, too." Senior Constable Rutherford told the inquest she and Constable Deutrom would receive calls from community members on their mobile phones while off duty, which could be "tiring", "frustrating" and "triggering". "You had to put your phone away so you couldn't see it in your house," she said. Senior Constable Rutherford said in his final days at Kintore, Constable Deutrom had dealt with a disturbance involving more than 100 people, on top of the increased workload brought on by the pandemic. "I knew we all weren't travelling 100 per cent but we thought we would just deal with it," she said. "I didn't think Micheal was feeling so unwell, it was just a subtle decline I noticed perhaps with his running regime, I didn't pick up on anything drastic." In light of Senior Constable Rutherford's evidence, Judge Armitage noted NT Police did not take a statement from her during its internal investigation into Constable Deutrom's death. The inquest heard unlike in Western Australia, NT police officers were not psychologically assessed before being deployed to remote stations. In providing the force's institutional response, Assistant Commissioner Peter Kennon told Judge Armitage assessment had "merit" and was "certainly something we will explore". "I think there's a lot of value in that being part of the process of officers going remote," he said. But in her evidence, NT Police Assistant Director of Wellbeing Services Stephanie Stotler said while it had been "proposed recently" to introduce pre-deployment psychometric testing, "we don't have the resources". "I imagine we would need an additional clinician allocated for psychometric assessments," she said. The inquest will resume in August for at least two further days of evidence before Judge Armitage prepares her findings.
ABC News
20-05-2025
- ABC News
Suicide of NT police officer Michael Deutrom to be examined at coronial inquest
WARNING: This story contains references to suicide and self-harm and will be distressing for some readers. A coronial inquest into the suicide of a Northern Territory constable is set to lay bare the challenges faced by police officers and whether more can be done to support those on the frontline. Michael Deutrom took his own life in April 2022, about three months after taking personal leave from his posting in the remote community of Kintore, in the territory's south-west. His death was one of three NT police suicide deaths in the first half of 2022, when two serving officers and one retired member took their own lives. This week, Northern Territory Coroner Elisabeth Armitage will investigate the circumstances of Constable Deutrom's death, and the systems in place to identify and address the cumulative effects of trauma on NT frontline workers. Judge Armitage said she hoped the inquest would honour Constable Deutrom's legacy as an advocate for mental health in the Northern Territory Police Force. "He wanted other officers to get help to deal with their exposure to trauma … and he wanted them to get help before their exposure to trauma developed into mental illness," she said on Monday. "I hope that this inquest honours Mickey's wishes. In a statement read out in court on Monday, Constable Deutrom's family said the death of their "special son, brother, brother-in-law, uncle and friend" continued to have a "profound impact" on his loved ones. "Michael was a generous person that gave so much to those around him," they said. "He took his oath and vocation of policing seriously and he served the community of the Northern Territory with compassion, honour and dignity." The family said they and Constable Deutrom's colleagues had been given "a commitment to real change in the Northern Territory police wellbeing space". "We hope for a frank and honest exchange during this inquest, an acceptance and understanding of any shortfalls … and a future that mitigates the loss of lives through suicide and negative mental illness," they said. Read the Deutrom family's full statement here. Counsel assisting the coroner Chris McGorey said the Constable Deutrom had been exposed to a number of confronting jobs during his 23-year policing career, and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after taking leave from his Kintore posting. He said there were three particular incidents the inquest would examine "to understand [Constable Deutrom's] feelings, perceptions, and how his injury progressed". One of those events was a car fire Constable Deutrom attended at the age of 21, less than six months out of recruit training. "It's a significant example of the type of job at a young age an officer's being required to confront," Mr McGorey said. "Significant, as well, that nearly 23 years later Michael was continuing to turn to that event in his mind. Assistant Commissioner Peter Kennon and an executive member of the NT Police Force's wellbeing division are among those expected to give evidence on Tuesday. The inquest is scheduled to finish on Friday. Read the Deutrom family's full statement: Good morning your Honour, On behalf of the Deutrom family we would like to sincerely thank you and your office for undertaking this inquest into the death of Michael Stanley Deutrom. Michael's death continues to have a profound impact on our family. Michael was a unique and special individual. As a family, we know that Policing in the Northern Territory is not easy. Our family has given more than 60 years to policing in the NT and this has come at a considerable cost to our family. We have lost a special son, brother, brother-in-law, uncle and friend. Unfortunately, the pain of Michaels loss is understandably still raw for our family and some of us are not able to bring ourselves physically to court today, but please rest assured we will be watching intently with interest and along with many online we hope for some good to come out of this process. … Michael was a generous person that gave so much to those around him, he took his oath and vocation of policing seriously and he served the community of the Northern Territory with compassion, honour and dignity. When many police spoke and aspired to being engaged in community policing, Michael lived it and practiced it without fanfare or accolades. He didn't need a glossy brochure to tell him how to engage with the community. Whether it be honouring a commitment to pursuing justice for a domestic violence victim in court, mentoring junior police and or volunteering his own time to help children in remote communities learn how to read at their schools, he did it not because he was told to, but because it was the right thing to do. Michael spent hundreds of hours in this very courthouse pursuing justice for victims of crime, he was much loved and respected. The exposure to cumulative trauma that police face is amplified by the sheer volume in the Northern Territory, it not only impacts those that served but leaves and indelible and often negative impact on officers, family and friends. Our officers are often pushed to exhaustion, fatigued and relied on to keep turning up. We know that the longer you serve in the frontline, the higher the chances are that your mental health will be negatively impacted. Michael was a career police officer who served in the frontline year after year. He had a genuine interest in his colleague's welfare, he regularly advocated for positive changes to frontline policing having earnt the right to speak with authority in this space. Policing is difficult and does not come without risk, however when families handover their loved ones to serve and protect the community of the Northern Territory, they ought be satisfied that adequate systems are in place to mitigate the damage caused from exposure to cumulative trauma and workloads, and that adequate and appropriate assistance is given to officers and their families during their service when the time comes to transition out of policing. At Michaels service, our family along with Michaels friends and colleagues were given a commitment to real change in the Northern Territory Police well-being space, we have been patient and hope that this promise is being materially honoured. We hope for a frank and honest exchange during this inquest, an acceptance and understanding of any shortfalls, recognition of those that had helped Michael, a genuine commitment to change and a future that mitigates the loss of lives through suicide and negative mental illness outcomes for those that choose to serve and protect the community.
