PELICAN NARROWS - On July 16, 2023, the Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) was notified of an in-custody death at the Pelican Narrows RCMP Detachment.
SIRT’s Civilian Executive Director accepted the notification as within SIRT's mandate and directed SIRT to investigate, according to a news release from the Ministry of Justice and Attorney General.
SIRT has now completed its investigation into this matter and the Civilian Executive Director’s public report can now be accessed online: .
SIRT's mandate is to independently investigate incidents where an individual has died or suffered serious injury arising from the actions of on- and off-duty police officers, or while in the custody of police, as well as allegations of sexual assault or interpersonal violence involving police.
The investigation showed that the affected person's death was the result of an overdose by drugs self-administered during his time in custody.
After the individual was put in cells, on July 16, 2023, at about 2:35 p.m., nearly 36 hours after the inmate's initial arrest, an RCMP officer heard noises from his cell. The person was seen shaking with his hands in the air. Then, he started kicking his legs. When the two officers entered the cell, the individual stated words to the effect of "I took too much coke." After police called EMS for assistance, the inmate was still breathing and communicating.
Shortly after, he began convulsing and was placed in the recovery position. EMS was then updated on his condition and members administered NARCAN, which was ineffective.
When EMS arrived, the inmate had a pulse and was breathing. He was transported for medical care. But after arriving at the medical centre, he was no longer breathing and had no pulse. At 3:27 p.m. he was pronounced deceased by a doctor.
The report indicated "there is no reasonable basis to suggest that any use of force by police, either during the affected person's arrest or during his time in custody, caused or contributed to his death."
It was noted that a search was done when the inmate was put in cells at the arrival at the RCMP detachment but no drugs were located on his body. A more extensive search, such as a strip search, could have been completed but these can't be done as a matter of routine policy.
"Neither the nature of the affected person's charges nor the circumstances of his arrest were sufficient to constitute such grounds," the report said.
The report indicated that on July 16, 2023, at 4:52 a.m., the person removed a substance from the sink ledge and brought his hand to his face. Then, at 11:55 a.m., the inmate again removed the substance from the sink ledge and brought his hand to his nose. At 1:48 p.m., he threw a small white object out of the meal slot of his cell door to under the door of another cell. The object was later recovered from this cell by SIRT investigators and confirmed to be a small bag of cocaine.
It was also noted that extensive CCTV footage obtained from within the detachment shows the inmate's actions while in custody but were not necessarily observed by either the detachment's civilian guard staff or by the RCMP members as they were occurring.
"The evidence gathered during this investigation, including the video footage, confirms that the affected person was reasonably monitored during his time in custody, by both civilian guard staff and RCMP members," the report says.
Ultimately, it was determined that there were no grounds to believe an offence was committed by any police officer, the report indicated.
