The senior police officer in charge in Alice Springs before and after Kumanjayi Walker died has told the coroner's court that the Immediate Response Team (IRT) breached his operational plan soon after arriving in Yuendumu on November 9, 2019.
Walker was shot and killed by Constable Zachary Rolfe on that day, soon after the IRT arrived in the remote Warlpiri community.
Superintendent Jody Nobbs, who requested the deployment of Constable Rolfe’s IRT, is in charge of eleven Central Australian desert police stations spread across a four hundred thousand square kilometre area.
Superintendent Nobbs had deployed the IRT up to ten times previously.
He also recommended to his superiors the unit be sent to Yuendumu on November 9 to provide general duties support, gather intelligence and support the arrest of Kumanjayi Walker early the next morning.
'Not consistent with the plan'
When questioned about the role of the IRT on the night Constable Zachary Rolfe shot and killed Kumanjayi Walker, the Superintendent agreed that the IRT had defied his operational plan when they patrolled Yuendumu with AR15 assault rifles and started searching homes.
”That's not consistent with intelligence gathering, is it?" asked Counsel assisting the Coroner Peggy Dwyer.
"No," the Superintendant told the court.
“And that's not consistent with what you'd expect from a disciplined force that is following a plan?"
"No.”
“Officers outside the house who were carrying long arms. That's not consistent with a plan, is it?"
“No."
“Going into a house, when there are two children sitting there watching television: what do you think about that?"
“Again... it's not consistent with the plan”
Evidence submitted to the coroner's court: an AR15 weapon of the type taken into Yuendumu on the night Kumanjayi Waker died.
Officer misled community after Walker's death
After Kumanjayi Walker was shot by Constable Rolfe and taken to the police station, where he later died of his injuries, Superintendent Nobbs feared the facility would be breached by a crowd of about 200 people waiting outside.
Nobbs admitted that he had deceived the community when a leased Royal Flying Doctor plane was brought in to evacuate police.
He told the Coroner an ambulance was used to make it appear as though Kumanjayi Walker was being transferred to the aircraft.
“It was deliberate in its deceit and was about giving the perception that Kumanjayi Walker was being conveyed.
“The plan was about a swift and decisive exit from the compound to the airstrip, and make sure the plane landed and departed safely without rocks being thrown at it then return to the station with reinforcements.”
The evacuation plan was eventually overridden by Nobbs’s superior officer, Assistant Commissioner Travis Wurst, .
Aboriginal community police officer (ACPO) Derek Williams and other Yuendumu elders kept the crowd calm and prevented any violence.
“I’ll be deeply indebted to ACPO Williams for the leadership he showed on that night. It was exceptional and I struggle with the ultimate deception.”
No recollection of 'racist terms'
Superintendent Nobbs was also questioned about racism within the force during his 25-year career in the Northern Territory Police, 18 of them spent in Central Australia.
Superintendent Nobbs said he “couldn’t recall derogatory conversations about Aboriginal people.”
He was asked by Counsel assisting the Coroner Peggy Dwyer if he developed negative attitudes towards Aboriginal people as a young officer.
“Some of the horrendous things I’ve seen, I guess saddened is probably a more appropriate response rather than negative.”
Superintendent Nobbs told the coroner he couldn’t “genuinely recall hearing any of his superior officers use racist terms as a young officer.”
Jody Nobbs was quizzed about text messages sent by Constable Rolfe to another officer in February 2019, where Constable Rolfe and boasted about having “smashed the whole community” of Borroloola and how he “had a license to towel up locals.”
“Comments such as these bring the organisation into disrepute and erode the confidence the community would have in police – so accordingly I’d deal with them through the formal disciplinary process.
"I would want to have an appreciation of how widespread it is and whether it was a symptom of something more egregious”
The Superintendant was also named in a racist text between Rolfe and an unnamed Sergeant where they described how "bush c**ns weren’t used to people going after them” and how ”Nobbs should be loving us at the moment”
“I find it extremely disappointing and quite frustrating,” the Superintendant said of his reaction to the texts' content.
At a supreme court trial in March this year, Constable Rolfe was unanimously found not guilty of any offence in relation to the death of Kumanjayi Walker.
The inquest is set down for three months.
