Bal Brach (National Post) – A woman arrested for public intoxication died Thursday while being held at an RCMP facility in the central B.C. city of Prince George, according to an RCMP news release.
Just after midnight Thursday, police received a complaint of a half-naked man rolling around in the bushes near the College Heights pub.
When officers tried to arrest the man for public intoxication, they noticed a female who was also under the influence.
The man and woman were both arrested and placed in cells at the RCMP detachment in Prince George.
Sometime later, while conducting routine prisoner checks, an officer discovered the woman was unresponsive in her cell.
RCMP Const. Annie Linteau could not confirm how long the woman may have been dead. However, Linteau said inmate checks are conducted at regular intervals.
“Policy states that prisoners have to be checked frequently… and the intervals are to be no more than 15 minutes apart,” said Linteau. “It doesn’t say exactly what ‘checking’ means,” she added.
“It says that at least at every shift change they [officers] have to conduct physical checks.”
Linteau said officers usually take a look inside the cell. “But of course it’s very early in this investigation. So we don’t know if policy was followed.”
The man and woman knew each other, but Linteau would not confirm the nature of their relationship.
“There’s very few details,” Linteau said. “This has just happened and until we take statements from everybody we’re not going to make statements.”
Police have not released the victim’s name or the cause of death. RCMP said an independent officer will review the case.
Earlier this year, a report prepared by the RCMP in Ottawa found 56% of RCMP in-custody deaths occurred in B.C., even though only a third of the force’s officers are stationed in the province.
At the time, the B.C. RCMP said the report produced by the force’s national headquarters exaggerates the rate of in-custody deaths in the province.
The B.C. RCMP argued that B.C.’s share of front-line officers is actually closer to 45% as opposed to 33%.
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