A senior police officer with more than 20 years experience has criticised the actions undertaken by two officers immediately before one of them fatally shot an Aboriginal teenager.
Warlpiri man Kumanjayi Walker died from his injuries after he was shot three times by Constable Zachary Rolfe in November 2019, in the remote Northern Territory community of Yuendumu. Rolfe and fellow officer Adam Eberl were attempting to effect an outstanding arrest warrant for the 19-year-old when a struggle occurred, leading to the gunshots.
Constable Rolfe is standing trial for murder and alternative charges for the second two shots, the first being deemed a 'reasonable use' of force. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
In what will be one of the final prosecution witness appearances, Detective Senior Sergeant Andrew Barram was called by the prosecution to give evidence and expert opinion on the events leading up to and including the deadly encounter.
An expert in both weapons and martial arts, Senior Sergeant Barram formerly led the Operational Safety Section of the Northern Territory Police training college, which provides specialist skills training in firearms, defensive tactics and incident management.
The 25-year veteran of the Northern Territory police force was critical of multiple actions undertaken by Officers Rolfe and Eberl.
“Why would you put yourself in such close proximity to him?" testified Officer Barram, when asked about the decision of Rolfe and Eberl to enter 'House 511', where they suspected Kumanjayi Walker could be hiding.
"There’s no tactical... distance between them. Limited time to be able to react.
Detective Senior Sergeant Andrew Barram has extensive knowledge of police training, including defensive tactics. Source: Supplied: Guy McLean
"Completely goes against our training.
"The first thing [that] is immediately apparent when Mr Walker comes into view, is that he’s got his hand in his pocket... if you’ve got someone that you even suspect may be armed, first thing you’re going to want to do is see their hands.
"So I don’t know why they persisted with going in. They could have done that from the door and said 'show me your hands, immediately.'"
When asked by Prosecutor Philip Strickland SC what options Constable Rolfe and Eberl could’ve considered before approaching Kumanjayi Walker to identify him, Officer Barram replied:
“Again, they could’ve done that from the door. They could’ve said, Sir, can you please come over here but show me your hands first.
“They could’ve done any number of things rather than going in there and putting themselves in proximity to him.”
Earlier Detective Senior Sergeant Barram told the court police were trained to use lethal force as a last resort.
A veteran police officer has criticised the actions of Constable Rolfe (R) in apprehending Kumanjayi Walker. Source: Supplied: Supreme Court of the Northern Territory
"Time is on our side so we utilise the time to try and come up with a less forceful option than rushing in and perhaps causing an incident that doesn’t need to happen."
He said the Immediate Response Team members who were present when Kumanjayi Walker was shot had a range of tools at their disposal when undertaking arrests, including tasers, batons and sprays.
"Where there’s no immediate threat to life, a member should assess the incident in order to determine what non-lethal tactics would be best to de-escalate and bring the incident under control," he testified.
The court also heard that officer Barram also inspected Constable Rolfe’s police utility belt after the shooting and found his taser battery was flat.
The senior officer is expected to resume his evidence tomorrow and face cross examination by Constable Rolfe’s defence barrister, David Edwardson QC.
The prosecution is expected to wrap up its case tomorrow. It’s not known if the defence will call witnesses or provide evidence to the court.
Once both sides present their final addresses to the jury, the judge will sum up the case before the jury retires to consider its verdict.
