The NSW Ombudsman has released a report critical of the police investigation into the death of tasered Brazilian student Roberto Laudisio Curti.

Mr Curti died after police fired Tasers at him 14 times in Sydney's CBD in March last year.

The 21-year-old had stolen a packet of biscuits from a convenience store and was delusional and behaving erratically after using a small amount of LSD.

An inquest late last year heard up to 11 officers chased the student and repeatedly tasered him, even as he lay handcuffed on the ground.

Three cans of OC spray were used on him and disturbing video footage from the Taser guns used was shown in Glebe Coroners Court.

Coroner Mary Jerram made an open finding on the cause of his death, but said the actions of police officers were reckless and an abuse of power.

She recommended disciplinary action against five of the officers involved and that police use of Tasers and capsicum spray be reviewed, as well as restraint methods.

The student's family, who sat through the disturbing evidence at the inquest and gave permission for it to be made public, still want criminal charges laid against the officers.

Today, Ombudsman Bruce Barbour tabled a report in Parliament on the police investigation into the death before the coroner's inquest.

Mr Barbour's report says the incident highlights why independent civilian oversight of critical incident investigations is important.

"The police investigation into the death of Mr Laudisio Curti failed to adequately identify and deal with the question of whether there was any police misconduct," the report said.

Mr Barbour has called for a mandatory notification scheme to alert his office to all incidents involving death or serious injury during police operations.

"It may come as a surprise to members of the community to know that police investigations into the death or serious injury of persons during policing activities are not automatically subject to independent scrutiny by my office," Mr Barbour said in the report.

"We are only able to oversight these investigations upon receiving notification of a complaint about the conduct of the officers involved.

"This means that most critical incident investigations are not subject to any scrutiny by this office."

The matter is now also before the Police Integrity Commission.