The police station in Lincoln Street, Highgate Hill, was built in 1897. It consisted of a charge room and two lock-up cells. Living quarters for the officer in charge were added in Smith Street in 1906. Apparently there was enough room in the area behind the station to keep a cow.
In 1907 the officer in charge at Highgate Hill was Corporal Patrick O’Halloran. He visited Alice Mitchell’s home in Edward Street in February 1907, and was disturbed by what he found. After the death of baby Ethel Booth in Perth Hospital, Corporal O’Halloran did much of the investigation that lead up to the inquest and Alice Mitchell’s subsequent trial for murder.
The full story can be found in The Edward Street Baby Farm, which will be published by Fremantle Press on 1 October 2020.