The Northern Territory coroner has heard a recent police investigation into an Indigenous death in custody blew out to more than twice the recommended reporting timeframe.
Kumanjayi Bloomfield, 47, died in a vehicle rollover on the Plenty Highway near Harts Range while trying to evade a roadside breath test in July 2019.
Internal police guidelines require death in custody investigations be reported to the coroner within six months.
But an inquest into Mr Bloomfield's death was yesterday told police did not hand up their investigation into Mr Bloomfield's death until December 2020, 16 months later.
Mr Bloomfield's death is considered a death in custody because he was attempting to escape police when he died.
Counsel assisting the coroner, Kelvin Currie, told the inquest Mr Bloomfield used a side road to evade police and the pursuit spanned less than 2 kilometres before it was called off.
"Not wanting to pursue the vehicle past [another car on the road] . the senior officer called off the pursuit," Mr Currie said.
Mr Bloomfield's body and wrecked car were later discovered by police.
He had blood alcohol reading of 0.28 per cent when he died.
NT Police Assistant Commissioner Narelle Beer gave evidence that "a failure of governance" led to the blown-out reporting period.
"There wasn't an [internal oversight body at the time] and it wasn't progressed," she told the coroner.
"I believe at that time there was some significant movement in the [NT Police] executive."
She said that police were reviewing a number of internal policies to streamline their processes.
Police held three community meetings in the wake of Mr Bloomfield's death to address the concerns of the Harts Range community.
Daniel Gorry, a lawyer representing the man's family, told the coroner that a lack of communication from the police and the reporting delay distressed the family and fuelled suspicion that something "untoward" had happened.
The coroner also heard that in the days following Mr Bloomfield's death there was widespread community concern that a police "cover-up" was underway because the police vehicle involved in the chase was moved from the community "in the dead of night".
The officer in charge of the crash investigation, Sean Aila, said that it was normal procedure to move vehicles to a compound as soon as possible so as to preserve evidence.
NT Police gave evidence that the autopsy report was submitted nine months after Mr Bloomfield's death.
The inquest continues for a second and final day today.