A senior police officer has cried in an investigation while apologizing to the family of an Aboriginal man who died while fleeing officers in northwest NSW.
WARNING: This story contains images and details of an aboriginal who has died and has been used with the permission of his family.
Key points:
- Senior Agent Crystal Manusu apologized to Gordon Copeland’s relatives
- The police officer agreed that he should have spent more time looking for him after he fled to a river.
- Senior Officer Manusu said police did not chase the car he was in
Senior Officer Crystal Manusu was in charge of the initial police search of 22-year-old Gordon Copeland, who eventually drowned in the flooded Gwydir River near Moree in July last year.
The body of the Gomeroi man was found three months later after the NSW coroner ordered a final search, amid family protests.
On the second day of the investigation in Moree, the senior officer was questioned again by the attorney assisting Peggy Dwyer regarding the time spent searching for the missing man along the river.
Senior Agent Manusu agreed with reports from fellow officers of a splash, moaning and someone falling down an embankment meant he could have been injured.
Gordon Copeland’s son is now four years old, his second child was born after he died. (Provided by: Aboriginal Legal Service)
He told police investigating he should have spent more than 13 minutes searching for the missing man.
“I can see from the retrospective that I should have spent more time on the river,” Chief Agent Manusu said.
Aboriginal Legal Service public defender Bill Neild also asked the officer if he was following the vehicle containing the victim the night he died was a chase.
Major Agent Manusu said that while going at speed, it was not a chase, as he did not use lights or sirens.
The officer told the court he was trying to get the vehicle to check on his suspicions that it could have been stolen.
Mr. Neild questioned his evidence.
“You didn’t know who was going in the vehicle and you didn’t know if they stole it,” he said.
“I tell you you had no reason to believe with reasonable cause that the people driving that vehicle had committed an offense.”
Senior Conservative Manusu responded that he “suspected it could have been a stolen vehicle.”
Senior Agent Crystal Manusu arrives to testify in the investigation. (ABC News: Jennifer Ingall)
He cried as he told Mr.’s family. Copeland that she would be “devastated” if something happened to her own family.
“I joined this work to help others and protect the community, and with the benefit of hindsight, if there was anything I could have done otherwise that would have changed the outcome, I would have done so without hesitation. he said, reading from a prepared writing. statement.
“I’m sorry and sincerely for your loss.”
The hearing continues.