RCMP Watch

Troy Watts, Westcoaster.caThe Tofino RCMP detachment had a debriefing Aug. 21 regarding the death of an Opitsaht man who died in their custody.
Christopher Tom, 38, was arrested without incident for public drunkenness Aug. 4.

Tom was placed in a holding cell under the watch of a guard who periodically observed his condition. In the early morning of Aug. 5 the guard checked Tom and discovered he had stopped breathing.

Tom was rushed to the Tofino General Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Sgt. Dave Lucas, of the Tofino RCMP, said the purpose of the debriefing was to have everybody involved speak their minds and review what happened.

We talked about this critical incident and the stressful time it was for the department,” said Lucas.

He said the officers were accompanied by health care workers and Chaplain Les Schrader from Port Alberni, who is an expert in critical incident debriefings.

“We went over things to see if there is anything that could have been done differently,” said Lucas.
He said none of his officers are at fault in Tom’s death.

“Nothing happened that can be attributed to the RCMP, we did everything correctly.”

He said the situation could have been worse.

“What if I’d said ‘let him go’ and he died on the side of the road.”

He said when Tom was discovered in his cell the officers reacted properly.

“Every effort was made to try to revive Chris, we don’t want anyone dying in our cells.”

There will be a B.C. Coroner’s inquest into Tom’s death.

Terry Foster, public affairs officer for the Office of the Chief Coroner, said she does not know when the inquest will begin or how long it will take.

She said the dates have not been set and they still have to choose a jury.

Lucas said he has been told it may happen in December.

He said it is no surprise that there will be an inquest.

“We knew it was going to happen, it is standard procedure when somebody dies in police custody.’

An autopsy by the B.C. Coroner’s Office into Tom’s cause of death was inconclusive.

A press release from the Victoria RCMP said there was “no obvious cause of death and there was no trauma to the body.”
Lucas said the Coroner’s Office is still trying to determine the cause of death.

“It’s going to toxicology to see if anything can be learned from his blood work and body fluids.”
Lucas said they will likely discover it is health-related.

“I think it will probably determine that he had a heart attack.”