What Hope is there for Aborigines., page-43

Interesting that the 115 kg guy - who was allegedly doing knee drops on the liver of the imprisoned 75 kg guy who died - doesn't get much of a mention here. More of a chance to generalise about race and racial stereotypes, and personal experience. But let's be specific.

Being a cop is a bloody hard job. Not everyone has the temperament and, has been mentioned here at length, as a cop you have to withstand some pretty revolting and violent behaviour. Ex-Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley, who was the cop in this instance, may not have had the right temperament. He doesn't have a good record in de-escalating dangerous incidents and sending people safely on their way.

Leaving aside the many complaints about him from the early 1990s that the Qld police brass and Police Union waved away, Hurley has not shown a brilliant temperament for policing in this millenium. In 2014 a magistrate found him guilty of choking a bloke at a traffic incident, while on the job. In February 2015 he pleaded guilty to the assault of a woman police officer in a Gold Coast shopping centre. In May 2015 he sped away from pursuing police in an illegal high speed chase, as a citizen.

The 75 kg guy who died in custody suffered broken ribs, a ruptured spleen and his liver was so damaged it was almost split in two across his spine. Hard to get those injuries outside of a plane crash, according to a coroner.

The person who caused those injuries cost the Qld taxpayer $30 million and caused outrage across the world - and he wasn't an Aborigine.