Fatal Walker shooting 'within Zach Rolfe's training'

Zachary Rolfe shot the 19-year-old three times while on duty in the remote community of Yuendumu in November 2019 but was acquitted of murder in a five-week trial.

Kumanjayi Walker was shot three times by then constable Rolfe. (HANDOUT/SUPPLIED)

Mr Rolfe was deployed to find Mr Walker as part of an Immediate Response Team based in Alice Springs and run by Sergeant Lee Bauwens.

The lawyer for Mr Walker's family, Andrew Boe, asked Sgt Bauwens if he had seen the police body-worn footage of the incident.

"Did you pay close attention to whether or not constable Rolfe conducted himself in line with what you believe to be appropriate policing?" Mr Boe asked.

"I did not see anything that was inappropriate or outside of training," Sgt Bauwens responded.

He said Mr Rolfe was a "dedicated police officer" who was "good at his job".

Sgt Bauwens was on medical leave the day Mr Walker was killed and had no involvement in the decision to deploy the team.

The officer said a "high proportion" of response team "targets" were Indigenous people in remote Aboriginal communities and town camps.

The sergeant said he saw the body camera footage and didn't see anything inappropriate. (HANDOUT/SUPREME COURT OF THE NORTHERN TERRITORY)

"When going through the selection criteria, you did not include anywhere the cross-cultural capacity of clients," Mr Boe suggested.

Sgt Bauwens said while it was not part of the selection criteria, most general duties officers in Alice Springs had experience with Indigenous people.

Mr Boe asked if a lesson to be taken from the fatal arrest attempt would be that response team deployments into those communities "need members if not a leader" with experience policing them.

Sgt Bauwens said it could be considered but there could be viability issues.

He earlier told the inquest he was unaware of complaints about Mr Rolfe's use of excessive force or his declining mental health.

"There had been a number of complaints about unjustified use of force ... (and) a perception among people within the Alice Springs Police Station that Mr Rolfe was developing a bit of a reputation for the use of force," counsel assisting Patrick Coleridge said.

Mr Coleridge referenced an arrest in 2018 where Mr Rolfe allegedly punched an Aboriginal man's head, grabbed his hair and slung him to the ground, rendering him unconscious with cuts that needed 16 stitches.

Mr Rolfe (right) was a "dedicated police officer" who was "good at his job", the court was told. (HANDOUT/NORTHERN TERRITORY SUPREME COURT)

Mr Rolfe then allegedly asked a detective to scratch his face so he could blame the victim to justify his use of force.

Local Court Judge Greg Borchers found Mr Rolfe had lied to conceal his "unlawful" use of force.

Mr Coleridge said Southern Crime Command investigated potential allegations of perjury.

"All of that was occurring against the backdrop of the decline of Mr Rolfe's mental health and his transition onto medication," the counsel said.

"Do you accept that if that information had been presented to whoever was responsible for making the decision, there is every chance that Zach Rolfe would not have been deployed to Yuendemu on November 9, 2019?" 

Sgt Bauwens said he was unable to "say yes or no".

He also told the inquest he did not know about Mr Rolfe's declining mental health, despite receiving a text in early 2019 saying: "Hey brother, sorry I've been slack lately, I'm burnt out as f***".

Mr Rolfe was diagnosed with depressive disorder and prescribed anti-depressants a month before Mr Walker's death.

Sgt Bauwens said if he knew he would have escalated the issue and sought help for Mr Rolfe.

The inquest continues on Friday.

Mr Rolfe is set to testify on Monday, after losing several court challenges to avoid giving evidence including asking coroner Elisabeth Armitage to step aside due to bias.

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