A lawyer representing the family of Sherry Fisher-Tilberoo has called for an independent investigation into the Aboriginal woman’s death in a Brisbane police cell after senior police officers downplayed suggestions that the case highlighted racism or systemic problems.
Queensland police have admitted that Fisher-Tilberoo, 49, was not checked for more than six hours before her body was discovered in the Brisbane police watch house on 10 September.
A police employee has been stood down for alleged “failures of duty” related to conducting checks and associated record keeping.
Debbie Kilroy, a prison reform advocate and a lawyer representing Fisher-Tilberoo’s family, told Guardian Australia the police announcement on Monday was “diverting attention away from the real issues, the broader systemic and structural issues”.
“We need to see whether this was one person who didn’t [check on the welfare of prisoners] ... or was it an ongoing systemic issue,” Kilroy said.
The police ethical standards command is conducting an investigation on behalf of the state coroner.
The model for law enforcement oversight in Queensland, where in most instances police investigate themselves, has been routinely criticised as problematic. Guardian Australia has chronicled cases where officers were investigated by superiors, and where complaints were dismissed after limited inquiries.
Concerns that police may fail to appropriately address broader issues in their investigations, or be incapable of identifying problems given police culture and inherent biases, have been heightened by comments made by senior officers this week
On Tuesday the officer in charge of the Brisbane watch house, Inspector Jeff Coote, phoned ABC Brisbane during a discussion about Fisher-Tilberoo’s death. When asked whether it might point to broader failings, Coote said: “I would like to think this is not a systemic issue.”
On Sunday the police commissioner, Katarina Carroll, told reporters that police were “in no way racist”.
Kilroy said she had been calling for an independent process to replace police investigations but this had “been falling on deaf ears”.
“While we continue to criminalise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, we are going to continue to see black deaths in custody,” Kilroy said.
“For me when I heard [the commissioner’s comments] – a white woman comes out and says we’re not racist – my hackles go up straight away.
“It’s not for a white person to say that an institution is not racist, it’s for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It’s on the public record since the invasion.”
In a statement, police said that the ethical standards command had begun an investigation on behalf of the coroner “as per established protocols for deaths in police custody”.
“The investigation is also conducted under the overview of the Crime and Corruption Commission,” the statement said.
“That investigation, which will consider all circumstances surrounding Ms Tilberoo’s death including watch house systems and practices, is ongoing.
“The QPS has also appointed a senior superintendent to the role of statewide custody officer. That officer will be tasked to immediately conduct a full review of watch house processes with a particular focus on issues such as the length of time people stay in police custody and better visibility of health records.”
Coote phoned ABC Brisbane during an interview with a criminologist about processes in the watch house. He said prisoners should be checked every “60 minutes or less”.
“If it was one of my family members in here I would have an expectation that they would be checked thoroughly a minimum of every 60 minutes to make sure that they’re breathing and they’re comfortable,” he said.
“I would like to think this is not a systemic issue. We have [since the incident] changed our policies at the Brisbane watch house to make it more prescriptive as what exactly we expect. Shift supervisors have a lot more responsibility in terms of validating what they are being told by their officers.”
When asked whether he was satisfied staff acted appropriately on the night of Fisher-Tilberoo’s death, Coote said: “There’s a reason why an assistant watch house supervisor has been suspended, I’ll leave it at that.”
