Constable Zachary Rolfe, the officer who shot and killed Kumanjayi Walker, laughed about injuring a man during a wrongful arrest just months before the Warlpiri teenager's death in November 2019.
Body-worn camera footage of the earlier incident, shown during the coronial inquest into Walker's death, depicts a foot chase through Alice Springs Todd Mall on September 24 2019.
It shows Constable Rolfe catching up with the man and pushing him into a fence.
The man required hospital treatment for an injured shoulder, and, in a case of mistaken identity, was not the suspect they were looking for.
Counsel assisting the Coroner Dr Peggy Dwyer told the coroner that Constable Rolfe filmed the body-worn footage on his phone and texted it to a contact the next day.
“The main chase body-worn is mine…Ha ha, treated him to the old illegal shoulder charge,” it read.
“Because I wear body armour, I’m not as rapid as the locals initially, but they still can’t outrun me.”
“Turns out the dude wasn’t who we were looking for, and is now in a sling for nothing, ha ha, don’t run from police.”
Former Alice Springs police superintendent reviewed Constable Rolfe's Todd Mall arrest and found it proportionate reasonable and necessary
She never viewed Constable Rolfe’s body-worn footage of the Todd Mall arrest.
“I don’t always review the body-worn video. If the senior sergeant has reviewed it, and provided me a comprehensive report, and I’m satisfied with that, then I will sign off on it,” she said.
Counsel Assisting the coroner Peggy Dwyer then followed on.
“Well, what’s the point of you reviewing it, if you just take the word of a senior sergeant that everything was okay?"
“So I trust the senior sergeants," Picary replied, "and their information if they have viewed it, and they’ve covered off on the justification in the authorisation provisions, and they’re provided me significant information about – about that, and then I won’t always look at it.”
'Mashed some dude's face'
But text messages involving Constable Rolfe bragging about hurting people didn’t end there.
Constable Rolfe was involved in an arrest on October 12, 2019 that resulted in a man requiring stitches after Constable Rolfe charged at him causing him to collide face-first into a wall.
The Coroner heard that days later he texted a contact saying, “I’ve had some busy shifts lately. Mashed some dude’s face against a wall.”
46 use-of-force incidents in three years
Ms Vicary admitted in retrospect, there were "red flags" regarding Const Rolfe's conduct which may have been obscured by his abilities.
When quizzed about the texts former Superintendent Vicary said, “I was not aware of that and quite concerned that if a paramedic hadn’t reported any of that.”
Are you concerned about a police officer texting a [contact] that he, “Mashed some dude’s face against a wall”?
"Yes, that is very concerning," Vicary replied.
A further text later in the day read, “His head should be too sore to headbutt her for a while, ha ha”?
Vicary was again pressed over it "Does it concern you that he’s texting somebody else, laughing about the fact that a man was injured in that arrest?"
"Yes," she replied.
A report prepared for the Coroner by police Commander David Proctor found that from December 2016 to November 2019 Constable Rolfe had been involved 46 incidents of use of force.
Superintendent Vicary was if the numbers in isolation wouldn't trouble her, and also the figure across three years. She replied 'No' to both questions.
Vicary told the coroner that new recruits to Alice Springs “had no orientation, or understanding of the individual cultures in and around Alice” and that she had discussions with senior police about the need for cross-cultural training about central desert areas and Alice Springs.
“But it just didn’t seem to go anywhere,” she said.
In a Supreme Court trial earlier this year Constable Rolfe was acquitted of all charges over Kumanjayi Walker's death.
The inquest continues in Alice Springs.
