A Victoria Police spokeswoman confirmed that neither officer had been stood down.

“The investigation by the homicide squad into the circumstances surrounding the arrest of a man in Hoppers Crossing on July 15 remains ongoing,” the spokeswoman said.

“The investigation is being oversighted by Professional Standards Command, as per standard practice when someone is seriously injured in police custody.”

Robinson Gill principal solicitor Jeremy King, who has been appointed by Briggs’ family, said the case reinforced the need for independent oversight of any police conduct that results in serious injury or death.

“There are a lot of unanswered questions in Luke’s case and about the investigation. When did the investigation start? Were the officers separated and questioned immediately? Has any of the evidence been tainted? And have police treated this case the same as any other?” King said.

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He also called on Victoria Police to stand down the two officers while they were under investigation.

“Something has gone terribly wrong here. A young man should not end up in the intensive care unit, clinging to life after an interaction with police,” King said.

A recent report by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) identified a significant spike in complaints and notifications regarding police conduct.

In April, IBAC deputy commissioner Stephen Farrow said police oversight continued to be the most significant proportion of IBAC’s work, and accounted for almost 60 per cent of complaints received by the corruption watchdog.

IBAC assessed a total of 4317 allegations about Victoria Police and 1914 complaints in 2023.

The watchdog also received more than 1700 mandatory notifications from Victoria Police last year, along with 316 serious incident notifications, which included any police contact resulting in death or serious injury.

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