Cleveland Dodd: Extra police resources sent to Meekatharra for funeral of Unit 18 inmate

The funeral of the teenager who died in hospital after fatally self-harming in his cell at Casuarina Prison’s Unit 18 will be held on Friday in Meekatharra, with police expecting an intense outpouring of grief in the town. Cleveland Dodd, 16, died on October 19, a week after he was admitted to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. Mid-West Gascoyne police district Acting Insp. Jon Munday said extra resources had been sent to the town, 535km north-east of Geraldton, and they were continuing to be deployed for Friday. “Community safety, and supporting Cleveland’s family is our primary objective,” he said. Insp. Munday said police had extensive contact with the family, and they were aware of the extra police presence. “We’re very supportive of them, and they’re very supportive of our goals. We’re hopeful there will be no tensions or conflict,” he said. It was not revealed how many squads, or officers were being sent to Meekatharra but Insp. Munday said all events were subject to a risk assessment in which police make a determination about the need for additional resourcing. Insp. Munday said he had heard reports the town was becoming increasingly busy with family and friends travelling to the region for the funeral. There have been requests to allow Cleveland’s father, who is in jail, to attend the funeral on compassionate grounds. He is serving a one-year, five-month sentence with his release date set for June. He was transferred from Geraldton’s Greenough Prison to Hakea Prison to be with Cleveland during his last days, when his son was unresponsive. Cleveland is the first child ever in WA to die in custody. An interim report into the self-harm incident that resulted in his death uncovered a litany of failures, including a sleeping senior youth custodial officer – since stood down – who had to be woken up before Cleveland’s cell could be accessed. The report revealed it took 16 minutes between when Cleveland made his first self-harm threat and when he was found unresponsive in his cell, some guards were streaming movies that shift, a broken vent in Cleveland’s cell — a known hanging point — went unrepaired for a month and tissue paper was covering the CCTV camera in the teen’s cell. The probe prompted Mr Papalia to declare Cleveland had been let down and “should be alive today”. Lifeline: 13 11 14