Acting NT Police Commissioner Martin Dole has ruled out independent oversight of the police investigation into the death of a Yuendumu man during an arrest at an Alice Springs supermarket this week despite Mr Dole’s close ties to the community and his questionable involvement in the flawed murder investigation into former constable Zach Rolfe in 2019.

Calls for an independent investigation into the Alice Springs death in custody have grown in recent days, including from the family of the 24-year-old deceased man, now known as Kumanjayi White, and political leaders, including Federal Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy.

“In the interest of having some separation, calls for an independent investigation may be warranted, it may be important to do that, given that there is such tension [in the community],” she said.

Mr Dole issued a statement yesterday rejecting calls for the investigation “to be handed to an external body”, claiming the Major Crime Division “operates under strict protocols and with full transparency”.

“The investigation will also be independently reviewed by the NT Coroner, who has broad powers to examine all aspects of the incident and make findings without interference,” he said in the statement.

Mr Dole also said he “conveyed” to Ms McCarthy his “complete confidence in the systems of oversight in place” and the “independent processes already in place within the NT Police force”.

Mr Dole has deep ties to the community of Yuendumu, which were first raised in 2022, following the NT Police’s failed murder trial of Mr Rolfe, who was charged in relation to the shooting death of Yuendumu man Kumanjayi Walker in 2019.

Mr Dole was also a member of the investigation management committee directing the murder investigation into Mr Rolfe, charging him with murder within 36 hours of the shooting, which was heavily criticised as a rushed decision.

It was later revealed that Mr Dole had lived in Yuendumu as a child and had served there as an officer, with Mr Walker’s partner’s grandfather stating that Mr Dole was like a “little brother” who he had known since he was a child.

Despite the perceived conflict of interest, Mr Dole played a key role in the decision to charge Mr Rolfe, including attending a meeting with the DPP an hour before the charge was laid.

He was also involved in procuring an international use of force expert whose report was later found to have been manipulated by investigators.

Mr Dole denied during the Walker coronial inquest that he had a conflict of interest in the matter. He also denied at the time that former police commissioner Jamie Chalker had any involvement in the Rolfe investigation, which was contradicted by internal police reports, and whose office Mr Dole was in direct communication with during the investigation.

The report that revealed Mr Dole’s involvement had initially been kept from Mr Rolfe’s legal team by Mr Chalker.

The death of Kumanjayi White on Tuesday came two weeks before Coroner Elisabeth Armitage was scheduled to hand down her findings in the death of Mr Walker, with the findings expected to address widespread systemic racism in the NT Police.

Police allege the deceased man assaulted a woman outside of the Commonwealth Bank in Alice Springs before stealing goods from a Coles and involving himself in an “altercation” with security guards, when two “plain clothes” officers in the store apprehended him.

Assistant Commissioner Travis Wurst said the two officers kept the 24-year-old pinned on the ground “for a number of minutes” before frontline officers arrived. It was then they noticed he had lost consciousness and performed CPR. He was later pronounced dead.

Witnesses have claimed the apprehension was “violent” and included police putting a knee on the neck of the man.

Kumanjayi White’s grandfather and Warlpiri Elder Ned Jampijinpa Hargraves called for the investigation to be managed by an independent body.

He revealed his grandson, who had severe disabilities, had been living in supported accommodation in Alice Springs and was “very vulnerable” and said his death had been “devastating” on the family and wider community.

The National Justice Project legal service has been appointed to act for the family. The Australian reported on Friday that principal solicitor George Newhouse sent a letter to Mr Dole on behalf of the family requesting police stop making public statements that “speculate on the cause of death or denigrate the character of the deceased”, that they retract any such statements made, appoint an independent body to undertake the investigation and release CCTV footage and body-worn camera footage to the family.

The NT Independent revealed on Friday that one of the officers involved in the arrest of the Yuendumu man is long-serving officer Steven Haig, who was working as a police prosecutor at the Alice Springs Local Court and had previously faced disciplinary action for use of force.

It was also revealed that Kumanjayi White was facing charges from a separate November incident, including aggravated assault, resisting police, and assaulting a police officer.

NT Police claimed an autopsy had not determined the cause of death, but have provided no further update.

Mr Dole called for “the community to allow the investigation to take its course”.

“We are committed to a full and fair examination of the facts,” he said.