The family of Birri Gubba woman, Aunty Sherry Fisher-Tilberoo have reacted to the suspension of an officer who was on duty during her death at the Brisbane City Watchhouse, saying the Queensland Police Service had failed in their "duty of care".
Ms Fisher-Tilberoo, who was on remand awaiting a transfer to a women's correctional facility was found unresponsive in her holding cell on the morning of September 10.
Immediately after her death, the Ethical Standards Command launched an investigation, which has now taken action to suspend an assistant watch house officer.
Speaking to the Brisbane Indigenous Media Association 98.9 FM on Tuesday, nephew of Ms Fisher-Tilberoo, Troy 'Jungaji' Brady questioned why his aunt remained locked up instead of being transferred to hospital for her "underlying" health issues.
“How come she was there? Why wasn’t she in a hospital?," he said.
“If you got a person that has underlying issues or is a higher risk to some degree, you gotta check, you have to use a torch and you have to physically make eyesight you know.
“It doesn't matter whether you’re black, white, brown brindle or in between, they have a duty of care to ensure the livelihood and the safety of the people that are brought into their service."
Mr Brady said the family were pleased to see that there was some accountability, but they say the watch house officer was being used as a “scapegoat” for a much larger and ongoing problem.
"It's a broader and wider issue about their policies and procedures in terms of engaging in your work and locking up blackfullas," he said.
“What we’re hearing from the other girls in the pod, it’s like, we’ve got a lot of questions and we need answers.
“I’ve lost a beautiful Aunty. We’re seeking justice...true justice. We’re gonna seek more information. It doesn’t stop here.”
Assistant Commissioner, Brian Codd addresses the media following the suspension of an officer at the Brisbane City Watchhouse. Source: QPS
“This suspension relates to allegations of failure of duty in relation to regular physical checks on prisoners in the watch house and related record-keeping," said Mr Codd.
"There's a period of somewhere between five and six hours that we're talking about where the issue around the appropriate combination of viewing what's occurring in cells from CCTV footage is married up with protocols around the physical checking that happens in cells, and that’s the matter that’s under particular scrutiny.”
The investigation into Ms Fisher-Tilberoo's death by the Ethical Standards Command is still ongoing.
