The director of B.C.’s police-oversight agency says putting people who are intoxicated in police cells, “ostensibly for their own protection, guarded by persons who are not trained professionals,” is an outdated practice that needs to end.
The comments from Ronald MacDonald, chief civilian director of the Independent Investigations Office, come in a report on a case where a Courtenay man put in a cell for being intoxicated in public in April 2022 was found unresponsive and died in hospital a day later.
The IIO found Comox Valley RCMP acted appropriately in the case but said the practice itself is the problem.
Instead of police cells, those who are intoxicated could be brought to sobering centres, or health-care professionals on site could help with their care, said MacDonald.
“I have been involved in the investigative oversight of police for over 11 years,” MacDonald said in the report’s conclusion. “I have seen too many persons die in police custody through no fault of the police.”
He said the government needs to make changes to ensure intoxicated individuals are cared for by people with applicable training.
In the Courtenay case, the man’s death was linked to complications resulting from acute alcohol withdrawal, the IIO report says.
“Officers cannot be expected to know a person’s full medical history prior to interacting with them,” the report says.
“They can only know what they are told by the person and what they observe themselves.”
Comox Valley RCMP were called after the man was reported to be acting strangely in someone’s yard. Police said the man was covered in dirt and talking “a mile a minute.”
He was co-operative with officers, as seen on video taken from equipment in a police vehicle.
The man was awake when placed in a cell after 5 a.m., and proceeded to pace and to remove his clothing. A civilian guard checked on him and other prisoners four times an hour. The man was seen moving around on security video.
He was last seen moving at 1:05 p.m., then was found unresponsive by an officer at 1:15 p.m.
It was later determined from several witnesses who spoke to the IIO that the man was an alcoholic and was seeking help at the time of his death, including taking medication.
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