A respected police officer found dead at Port Adelaide police station is believed to have committed suicide in the women’s toilet.
The police commissioner and coroner have launched an investigation after the officer – a detective sergeant – died at the station in the city’s north-west between 2pm and 3pm on Monday.
Police previously confirmed the death was not considered suspicious but did not reveal the cause.
However, Daily Mail Australia can reveal the officer, an Indigenous mother of two, is believed to have committed suicide.
Online claim agent reports from eyewitnesses at the station heard a loud bang in the building before discovering her body.
South Africa’s police have asked the media not to publish the dead officer’s name and recognizable photos for “cultural reasons.”
A respected police officer found dead at Port Adelaide police station took his own life in the women’s toilet. The police have asked the media not to publish the name of the dead officer and recognizable photos for ‘cultural reasons’.
The officer, who was originally from Whyalla before moving to Adelaide, initially worked as a community constable – officers who help police engage with First Nations and culturally diverse communities
In 2015, she was sworn in as a full-time police officer.
She married her wife, who is also a South Australian police officer, in late 2019.
During her time as a community police officer, she was nominated as ‘Aboriginal Person of the Year 2012’ for her work within the First Nations community.
In her nomination text, she discussed her passion for serving the community and her desire to see more representation of the Aboriginal community within the SA Police.
“I like the variety in my job and I like the opportunity to help people by making the best out of a bad situation,” she wrote.
“(I) would like to help change the public perception of police officers from a negative to a positive.”
Daily Mail Australia can reveal the officer’s grandmother was a celebrated Aboriginal writer and poet who had more than 61 works published throughout her career.
The grandmother has been hailed as a ‘pioneer of First Nations Australian literature in South Australia’ and was believed to be the first female Aboriginal writer to be published within the state and win awards for her contribution to the arts.
The female police officer was found dead at Port Adelaide police station (pictured), in the city’s northwest, on Monday afternoon
In tribute, a colleague shared photos online of a gift she once received from the officer: a poetry book written by her grandmother.
Other devastated friends and colleagues have remembered the officer as a “beautiful person” with a “contagious, loud laugh” that could be heard “across the station.”
A colleague said the officer told her, “It’s going to be okay, my friend,” during one of their last conversations on Monday.
“You’ve said it to me a thousand times over the years,” her colleague wrote.
‘It doesn’t feel like everything will ever be okay again.
‘I’m exhausted. I loved you so much, but you knew that.
“I will miss you forever.”
Another colleague recalled how nice she was when she first arrived in Port Adelaide and struggled to adjust.
After the officer invited her for a friendly chat, they quickly bonded over their similarities: their “terrible memories, their distractibility, and the fact that they had both lost their fathers.”
‘The first day I met you, your kindness and caring nature radiated. You went out of your way to make us and the children feel welcome with invitations to the kindergarten and the park,” she said.
‘I loved working in the same office as you. Your laugh, your addiction to lollipop jars, your big caring heart and your great sense of humor, always pissing.
‘I loved your passion for your people. You were a proud First Nations woman and I loved your stories about your beloved “Gary.”
Colleagues have remembered the officer for her “infectious laugh” and how she “always met people with a smile”
‘I’ve learned so much from you. You were such a light in my life.
“I wish you knew how much you are loved.”
The tragedy has rocked the South Australian police community, which just two months after the alleged fatal on-duty shooting of Brevet Sergeant Jason Doig and the alleged hit-and-run death of the SA Police Commissioner’s son Charlie Stevens it is staggering.
Support services have been offered to the officer’s colleagues.
Acting Commissioner Linda Williams has announced that the woman’s death will be subject to a police investigation and a coronial inquest.
“The Port Adelaide tragedy is something that will affect so many people – family and friends, but also the entire police family and indeed the wider community,” South Australia Police Association president Mark Carroll said.
“The death of our colleague will be investigated so that we can understand the cause of this devastating incident.
State Police Secretary Joe Szakacs also shared his sadness in a statement.
“My sincere condolences go out to the police officer’s family, friends and colleagues,” Mr Szakacs said.
“Her tragic passing will be deeply felt and widely saddened. I ask everyone to keep the police family in their thoughts.”
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