Deathscapes

Ms Dhu 7a - Institutional Racism: police

Deathscapes

Institutional Racism: South Hedland Police

Aunty Carol Roe and Ms Dhu's younger sister Yolanda are both bent over, standing in a garden outside the South Hedland Police Station. They are placing painted crosses in the ground beside a small tree they have planted in Ms Dhu's memory.

[imagecaption] Ms Dhu’s Nana, Carol Roe, and sister, Yolanda, plant a desert rose outside the South Hedland Police Station for Ms Dhu, 2015. Photo: Sebastian Neuweiller and Tyne Logan. [/imagecaption]

[BREAK]

The only member of the police force who showed any concern for Ms Dhu’s wellbeing was the most junior officer present, a fact that, as Michael Brull suggests, ‘tells us something important about the institutionalisation of racism among Australian police’.

The South Hedland Police have persistently denied they have a cultural problem; however, Ms Dhu’s death can be situated against a series of prior allegations of racism and misconduct.

  • February 2014: ‘Leon Elroy’ alleged that after being taken to the local police station, instead of being dropped home, the police ‘dumped’ him near the local rubbish tip.
  • April 2016: after a car chase involving a group of teenage boys, the ALS alleged that officers used excessive force when firearms were drawn and a gun was pointed at one of the teenage boys. A complaint was lodged on behalf of one of the boys who said he was assaulted and that he and another boy were strip searched at the South Hedland police station.
  • June 2016: two youths were allegedly picked up by police and taken to the town’s outskirts and dumped there.
  • July 2016: an off-duty police officer entered the Port Hedland station and was charged with possessing a firearm while intoxicated, unlawful damage and pointing a firearm at a person.


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This research was primarily supported under the Australian Research Council’s Discovery Projects funding scheme.

Partial funding was received from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada’s Partnership Development Grants scheme.

The views expressed herein are those of the named authors and are not necessarily those of the funders.

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