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cjmckeon 's review for:
Tall Man: The Death of Doomadgee
by Chloe Hooper
In 2004, aboriginal man Cameron Doomadgee died in police custody on an island off the Queensland coast. Less than an hour after being arrested for swearing at a policeman, he suffered a fatal blow that almost split his liver in two across his spine and ruptured a major blood vessel.
The announcement of the post-mortem’s conclusions - that he had sustained these injuries in “a fall” - sparked a riot on the island, a high-profile inquest and the first trial of an Australian police officer for a death in custody ever.
Hooper’s account of the fallout from Doomadgee’s death considers both Australia’s original sin - the treatment of the aborigines, who continue to live in extreme poverty and whose tribulations are little known outside Australia - and what the effect of policing rough neighbourhoods has on police officers.
It is easy to see the whole episode through a racial prism, and there is a heavy racial element, but perhaps it’s not as straightforward as a racist cop killing a black man. Senior Sgt Chris Hurley, the officer who was eventually charged with and acquitted of manslaughter, does not appear to have been an out-and-out racist.
But for any police officer it must be difficult, when constantly exposed to the worst aspects of society, to maintain one’s humanity, especially so far from comfort. In this account, the question of when people think “rough justice” is acceptable is also important.
Although, of course, it’s easy to mete out some violence - if that is what he did - if you don’t fully respect the person on the receiving end.
A final point - it was striking to see the disparity between the white and black witnesses in this account. When giving evidence, the aborigines are unsure, while the whites are polished. They know how to play the game.
Even without racial bias from a jury, it’s easy to think the aborigines never stood a chance in the white man’s court.
In short, read this book. It is excellent.
The announcement of the post-mortem’s conclusions - that he had sustained these injuries in “a fall” - sparked a riot on the island, a high-profile inquest and the first trial of an Australian police officer for a death in custody ever.
Hooper’s account of the fallout from Doomadgee’s death considers both Australia’s original sin - the treatment of the aborigines, who continue to live in extreme poverty and whose tribulations are little known outside Australia - and what the effect of policing rough neighbourhoods has on police officers.
It is easy to see the whole episode through a racial prism, and there is a heavy racial element, but perhaps it’s not as straightforward as a racist cop killing a black man. Senior Sgt Chris Hurley, the officer who was eventually charged with and acquitted of manslaughter, does not appear to have been an out-and-out racist.
But for any police officer it must be difficult, when constantly exposed to the worst aspects of society, to maintain one’s humanity, especially so far from comfort. In this account, the question of when people think “rough justice” is acceptable is also important.
Although, of course, it’s easy to mete out some violence - if that is what he did - if you don’t fully respect the person on the receiving end.
A final point - it was striking to see the disparity between the white and black witnesses in this account. When giving evidence, the aborigines are unsure, while the whites are polished. They know how to play the game.
Even without racial bias from a jury, it’s easy to think the aborigines never stood a chance in the white man’s court.
In short, read this book. It is excellent.