The remote town of Alice Springs is coming to grips with the death in custody of a young Warlpiri man who died after officers restrained him following an altercation with supermarket security guards. Northern Territory police say they can be trusted to investigate the incident internally, but others want any investigation to be conducted independently to ensure full transparency.
00:00For Ali Arwa man Michael Biddle, the news of another Aboriginal death in custody brought
00:07back feelings he knows all too well.
00:10Here we go again, the town's at breaking point and there's so much sadness and chaos happening
00:22around Alice Springs and something like this magnitude the residents of Alice Springs could
00:29ill afford.
00:30Like many others in Central Australia, memories of the 2019 police shooting death of Kumanjai
00:35Walker in Yundamu remain fresh in his mind.
00:40The sadness and the anger, what happened when there's been a death in custody and it's sad
00:48to say that it's happened on our front door again.
00:51This death is an absolute indictment on the fact that nothing has changed and Aboriginal
00:57people in Central Australia continue to be very vulnerable at the hands of police.
01:02With no confirmed cause of death from the initial autopsy, details are still emerging about how
01:08exactly a trip to the supermarket escalated into a confrontation with officers that left
01:13the 24-year-old Walprey man dead.
01:16Northern Territory Police say they have the appropriate guardrails to investigate the incident themselves,
01:21but others want any investigation to be conducted separately to ensure total independence.
01:27In the interest, I believe, of having some separation, that calls for an independent investigation may be warranted.
01:37The young man had a disability and was living in supported accommodation in Alice Springs, sparking calls for more training for those on the front line.
01:46We need more training of staff and first responders so that they can better interact with community
01:53members with disability.
01:55Hopes for a way forward in a town that's hurting once again.
