An avoidable tragedy
ABCCleveland Dodd threatened to kill himself in his cell. Almost 13 minutes elapses before the first officer — the one passing by Cleveland's cell — notices him hanging. Those warnings were windows of opportunity to prevent Cleveland Dodd's suicide – windows that opened and closed without any effective, preventative action from those on duty at Casuarina Prison's Unit 18. It's understood that the failure to provide night staff with radios led to a delay of around one minute in the officer who initially discovered Cleveland getting access to his cell. When asked a detailed list of questions by the ABC about Cleveland's death and conditions inside Unit 18, Mr Papalia said he couldn't comment because investigations were underway, directing inquiries about "operational matters" to the Department of Justice.
