Youth custodial officer made ‘ghost noises’ in Cleveland Dodd’s cell, Aboriginal Legal Service alleges
Key points:
- In short: It is alleged a custodial officer was heard “making light” of Cleveland Dodd’s death by making “ghost noises” in the cell where the teenager took his own life.
- 16-year-old Cleveland Dodd was the state’s first recorded death in juvenile detention.
- What’s next? The Department of Justice says any formal complaint will be assessed by its Professional Standards area.
An officer in the notorious Unit 18 juvenile detention facility made “ghost noises” in the cell where 16-year-old Cleveland Dodd took his own life, according to a complaint from the Aboriginal Legal Service.
WARNING: This story discusses incidents of self-harm and contains the image of an Indigenous person who has died.
The complaint to the Department of Justice, seen by the ABC, raises a number of concerns about a young person’s treatment in both Banksia Hill Detention Centre and Unit 18 in recent months.
It details how the young person told his lawyer he and another young person heard a youth custodial officer go into Cleveland’s old cell and make “ghost noises, effectively making light of Master Dodd’s passing”.
Cleveland died when his life support was switched off in October last year, a week after he tried to take his own life in that cell.
The unnamed boy’s Aboriginal Legal Service (ALS) lawyer wrote the officer’s actions were of significant concern because they could reignite “feelings of traumatic stress”.
“It gives rise to serious concerns about the professionalism and ability of [youth custodial officers] to carefully navigate matters of extreme trauma and sensitivity and provide trauma-informed care to the young people in their custody,” the letter continued.
The department told the ABC any formal complaint it received would be assessed by its Professional Standards area.
It is unclear whether, in this case, that would include trying to verify the boy’s claims.
WA Premier Roger Cook said he hoped the allegations would be investigated.
“They’re very serious accusations and it’s important that we get to the bottom of that matter,” he said.
Earlier this month WAtoday reported an officer in Unit 18 was being investigated for joking about Cleveland’s death in the weeks that followed.
“Some allegations arising from, but not directly linked to, the death of Cleveland Dodd have been brought to the attention of the Corrective Services Commissioner and these matters are currently being reviewed,” the spokesperson said of that complaint.
‘I lose hope in people’: Cleveland’s mother
Cleveland’s mother, Nadene, said she was devastated to hear about the officer’s alleged conduct in the lead-up to a coronial inquest beginning on April 3.
“What more can I, as a grieving mother, take? How evil are these so-called officers? Cleveland was just a boy,” she told the ABC in a written statement.
“I lose hope in people when I hear how my boy was treated. I am preparing for more blows at the coroner’s inquest.”
Ms Dodd has been supported throughout her ordeal by veteran suicide prevention advocates Gerry Georgatos and Megan Krakouer.
“These reprehensible comments do not surprise me. I have heard them many times, all sorts of brutal, psychologically injurious slagging over two decades from incumbent and former Banksia Hill children,” Mr Georgatos said.
“I argue again and again it is an all-out punitive culture, an entrenched toxicity. It used to be even worse.”
He called for external investigators to be appointed to consider complaints, as well as the strengthening of the Aboriginal Visitors Scheme, which provides support and counselling for First Nations detainees during business hours, and the creation of a Prisoner Notification Service, similar to the Custody Notification Service.
Ms Krakouer described the alleged actions of the custodial officer as “horrific, disgusting, appalling, sick [and] heart-wrenching”.
Inspector of Custodial Services Eamon Ryan said he was dismayed at the complaint, but acknowledged was an allegation that needed to be addressed “through a proper process and if found to be proven, appropriate action ought to be taken”.
WA’s Commissioner for Children and Young People, Jacqueline McGowan-Jones, said the allegations were “disturbing”.
Allegations of damaged cell, lockdowns
The young person, who was later moved to Banksia Hill, said a wall in his cell there had a hole where a light switch was meant to be.
He said it gave him a “small electric shock” when he touched it.
His lawyer wrote that it took four or five requests for the hole to be fixed.
The letter also complained of “rolling lockdowns” over the Christmas period, including on Christmas Day when the boy said he was only allowed out of his cell for one hour, and was only able to make one phone call to family.
He told his lawyer on some days he was not allowed to leave his cell at all, despite Supreme Court rulings young people were required to get at least one hour of exercise for every six hours they spent in their cells during what would normally be “unlock time”.
The boy told his lawyer extended lockdowns made him “stressed out, angry and bored”.
“It’s pretty f***ed. They should be treating us like normal kids,” he said in a letter to his lawyer.
In response to detailed questions from the ABC, a department spokesperson said it prioritised the health and safety of young people and staff.
“It is not uncommon for detainees to cause damage to their sleeping quarters. Damage identified during daily checks is reported and prioritised depending on seriousness,” they said.
“Where safety and security are identified as being at risk then alternative accommodation arrangements are made.
“Any period of confinement in sleeping quarters during routine unlock hours must have a confinement order in place.”
It’s understood the damage to the light switch was done before the young person was moved into the cell.
Conditions improve, but not for all: ALS
While figures presented to state parliament showed the amount of time young people spent out of their cells continued to improve in recent months, ALS WA chief executive Wayne Nannup said the experience of this young person showed not everyone was benefiting.
“Young people have also reported there are occasions on which they are not let out of their cells at all if any of the young people in the unit [acted up],” he said.
Mr Ryan said he was “encouraged” by changes, particularly at Banksia Hill, where “considerable improvements in services and supports” were occurring.
Out of cell hours have improved in both Banksia Hill and Unit 18 after dipping last year
“Infrastructure limitations continue to impact what can be delivered and, as I have said on many occasions, there is no quick fix solution to the use of Unit 18,” he said.
The government has committed $1 million to developing plans for a replacement for Unit 18, but it remains years away from becoming reality.
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