North Queensland's top cop has been stood down pending an investigation into the early-morning death of a man in the driveway of Cairns police station.
Assistant Commissioner Paul Taylor - in charge of policing in Cairns, Townsville and Mount Isa - ran over the 37-year-old father-of-two in a car park driveway as he arrived for work about 4.20am on Monday.
Longreach butcher Ryan Savage, who was visiting Cairns to celebrate a buck's party, was trapped under Mr Taylor's car and could not be saved.
Mr Savage was the owner of the only butcher's shop, BF Savage and Co Butchery, in Longreach.
A senior Longreach officer has spoken with his family and will keep in contact during the investigation into his death.
Police have told AAP the inquiry will look at whether the man was lying unconscious or dead in the down ramp to the car park when hit.
Officers from the ethical standards command were flying from Brisbane to undertake the investigation with assistance from Queensland's Crime and Corruption Commission.
Respected and well-liked, Mr Taylor was promoted to one of the Queensland Police Service's most senior roles, assistant commissioner, in September last year.
He had acted as the northern region assistant commissioner for two years, prior to being permanently appointed to the role, after previously being Cairns chief superintendent.
Queensland Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said Mr Taylor had been stood down from his role to ensure the public had confidence in the investigation's independence.
He said he had called Mr Taylor to check on his welfare and told reporters he was holding up as well as could be expected.
"This is a tragedy on so many levels. A male person, 37 years of age, has lost his life," he said in Brisbane.
"It's our job to investigate that and to quite independently ensure a rigorous investigation is undertaken."
Mr Stewart warned the investigation would take some time.
