Halifax Regional Police officers have been cleared of wrongdoing in the case of a man who was found unconscious after he tried to hang himself in a jail cell.
Nova Scotia’s Serious Incident Response Team says the 47-year-old man was arrested on the grounds of the Nova Scotia Hospital in Dartmouth on Aug. 22, 2016 for being intoxicated in a public place.
SIRT says the man had been drinking and was “acting oddly and aggressively” towards an employee and security guards at the hospital.
The man was taken to Halifax Regional Police headquarters at 10:25 p.m.
SIRT says, 17 minutes later, officers were conducting a routine check when they found the man unconscious in his cell. It says the man had been trying to hang himself with his sweater.
However, SIRT says the officers followed reasonable procedures and performed the usual prisoner checks in accordance with standard practice. It says the officers administered the appropriate emergency aid and called for EHS to attend.
It also says that, while the man had been acting strange, he wasn’t overly intoxicated and gave no indication that he was depressed or considering taking his own life. It says the officers following reasonable procedures that night and performed the usual prisoner checks in accordance with standard practice.
As a result, SIRT says there are no grounds to lay charges.
“I found that they acted reasonably in the circumstances,” said Ron MacDonald, director of the Nova Scotia SIRT. “The test for a criminal defence is that their behaviour would have to fall and be a marked departure from the standard of care that is required.”
While SIRT did not find any criminal wrongdoing, their investigation did reveal there are three cameras inside the cell, but only one captured what the man was doing. However, investigators noted the camera was damaged and the image was blurry.
They also said that what was happening in the cell may not have been obvious to officers in the booking area due to the size of the security screens.
“The monitor that they used had all the cameras in the facility that they monitor so the picture was quite small,” said MacDonald.
The report also states the same man had been arrested the year before and tried to harm himself in cells.
"On that occasion he made efforts to cover the cell's video camera and apparently hang himself, although the efforts seemed unlikely to be successful, and included trying to put his socks around his neck,” MacDonald said in the report.
Halifax Regional Police never conducted an internal review into this matter as the file was handed over to SIRT.
As for the man, SIRT says his condition was initially very dire, and while he has recovered significantly, he continues to suffer from a serious brain injury.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kelland Sundahl.
