In short:
Constable Michael Deutrom took his own life in 2022 after suffering a severe mental health injury caused by repeated exposure to trauma and stress on the job.
asserted
Deutrom → take → job
In a lengthy report, the NT coroner found the NT Police Force's institutional culture of "making do" posed a significant risk to officers' well being.
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culture → find → being
What's next
NT Police say they are considering the coroner's recommendations for major changes to police culture and mental health support.
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they → say → culture
The Northern Territory coroner has found NT Police missed several opportunities to support a veteran officer before he took his own life.
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he → find → life
It has called for sweeping changes to police culture and mental health support, particularly in remote postings.
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It → call → postings
The findings, handed down on Friday, come four years after the death of Constable Michael Deutrom who died by suicide at 44 in April 2022, after more than 20 years serving on the front line across the Northern Territory.
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who → hand → Territory
It was a tragedy that devastated colleagues and cast a stark light on the toll of a policing career.
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that → devastate → career
In a 113-page report, coroner Elisabeth Armitage found Constable Deutrom was suffering from chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder after years of exposure to trauma, distressing jobs and a false allegation of sexual assault.
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Deutrom → find → assault
She identified Constable Deutrom had likely been experiencing "subsyndromal" PTSD symptoms by at least September 2021, which the coroner highlighted are symptoms that increase in severity over time but can fall short of the clinical threshold for a formal diagnosis.
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that → identify → diagnosis
According to the findings, Constable Deutrom attended a number of "check-ins" with the Police Wellbeing Unit after several jobs involving fatalities, including a police pursuit early in his career that ended in a vehicle crashing and catching on fire.
uncertain
vehicle → accord → fire
Judge Armitage said Constable Deutrom was still having recurring thoughts 22 years later about pulling the driver from the burning car and carried scars from the incident which served as a constant reminder.
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which → say → reminder
In another incident, in the remote community of Millingimbi in 2020, a pregnant woman experiencing a mental health episode assaulted him and another officer, spitting, biting and throwing faeces at them.
She then falsely accused them of sexual assault.
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She → experience → assault
The following year Constable Deutrom was transferred to the remote and isolated community of Kintore, a posting Judge Armitage found was "harmful given his mental wellbeing" as there was limited support and frequent on-call work that left him unable to switch off.
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that → transfer → him
The coroner also noted his posting came during COVID, a time which "created significant resourcing demands and institutional challenges for the NTPF (NT Police Force)".
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which → note → NTPF
Constable Deutrom was not required to undergo a psychological assessment before transferring to Kintore, which the coroner said may have picked up "flags" such as the length of his career and growing dissatisfaction with the job.
uncertain
coroner → require → job
Officers transferring to remote communities still are not required to undergo such assessments, she noted.
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she → transfer → assessments
Judge Armitage said the NTPF must, as a matter of priority, introduce psychological screening before members are sent to long-term remote postings.
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members → say → postings
She argued that such screenings would not necessarily result in blocking postings for officers if they were struggling, but could ensure better supports were put in place.
"Normalising screening within NTPF culture would be critically important for its effective implementation," Judge Armitage reported in her findings.
uncertain
Armitage → argue → findings
She also noted NTPF missed opportunities to intervene after Constable Deutrom sought psychological help in 2021 and built up an extensive amount of leave.
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Deutrom → note → leave
Judge Armitage said the force should also be mindful of other "flags" more broadly including fatigue, out of character irritability and decreased motivation — symptoms Constable Deutrom was exhibiting.
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Deutrom → say → character
She said the force's "institutional culture" of "making do" and "service before self" was a material factor in how Constable Deutrom came to be exposed to significant trauma and stress.
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Deutrom → say → trauma
Judge Armitage said more broadly the police culture problem posed a "significant risk to the long-term wellbeing of members".
"This is not an issue that can be resolved by increased resources for the NTPF's Wellbeing Unit.
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that → say → Unit
Reforming this culture is essential,"she said.
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Reforming → reform → culture
Citing research by Beyond Blue, Judge Armitage highlighted police officers who have worked more than 10 years in the job are almost twice as likely to experience psychological distress and six times more likely to experience symptoms of PTSD.
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who → cite → PTSD
At the beginning of 2022, just three months before his death, Constable Deutrom emailed his superiors and the NT Police Association detailing the difficulties he was facing, including community dysfunction and staff shortages.
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he → email → dysfunction
He said expectations by police leadership, the government and community were "extremely high and often unreasonable", while also noting his immediate supervisor was "doing all he can to offer us further support with an additional member".
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he → say → member
"Michael [Deutrom] wrestled with the NTPF motto 'service before self',"Judge Armitage said.
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Armitage → wrestle → self',"Judge
At the end of January, Constable Deutrom made what he described as the "difficult decision" to take personal leave.
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he → make → leave
Journal entries in the aftermath of leaving work detailed his struggles with shame and suicidal thoughts.
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entries → leave → shame
The coroner found that though Constable Deutrom was seeking help there was "a missed opportunity to arrive at a proper diagnosis of Michael's condition at the earliest time reasonably possible".
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Deutrom → find → time
Constable Deutrom eventually concluded he would not be able to return to Kintore, the coroner said.
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coroner → conclude → Kintore
Police considering recommendations
In her findings, Judge Armitage said she hoped Constable Deutrom's death would help others in frontline roles better understand the mental health risks they face and recommended his story be incorporated into future police training.
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story → consider → training
"I have not definitively found that, but for these missed opportunities, Michael's tragic passing would necessarily have been avoided," she said.
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she → find → opportunities
"This does not lessen the importance of my conclusions and the lessons to be drawn from Michael's experiences."
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This → lessen → experiences
While the coroner stopped short of referring anyone for prosecution, which was suggested by the NT Police Association and the family, she said the option remained open to them to commence criminal proceedings for possible contraventions of the Work Health and Safety Act.
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option → stop → Act
In a statement, Police Commissioner Martin Dole said the NTPF's thoughts remained with Constable Deutrom's family, friends and colleagues.
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thoughts → say → family
He said additional wellbeing resources had been made available for officers.
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resources → say → officers
He said the NTPF was now carefully considering the coroner's findings and recommendations.
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NTPF → say → findings
In her recommendations Judge Armitage included calls for stronger mental health protections for police middle management, a formal psychiatric referral pathway, and consideration of a Remote Operational Psychosocial Risk Management Framework.
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Armitage → include → Framework
She further called for a root cause analysis model for investigating suspected self-inflicted deaths.
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She → call → deaths