CC 102 (28) Deaths in Custody

During the Fiscal year 2012-13, the investigative staff: *received [blank_start]5,450[blank_end] complaints *conducted more than 1,400 [blank_start]“use of force”[blank_end] reviews & 165 reviews of deaths in custody (56 cases) and serious bodily injury, including self-harm cases and; *interviewed 1,500 offenders

more pressing issues has been unnatural deaths in custody (attract media & public scrutiny)

between 2003 & 2013 - 863 offenders died in custody - unnatural deaths range from 40 to 65 # of deaths increased from 49 in 2009 to 56 in 2012-13 2/3 of these deaths are natural causes

4 basic rationales used to protect society are: deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation & retribution

unnatural deaths in custody are usually from some form of violence (suicide, murder) closely monitored facilities- deaths like (overdose) are a failure of the states duty of care

official data on unnatural deaths in custody: of the [blank_start]147[blank_end] deaths in provincial or territorial custody- [blank_start]28[blank_end]% were due to suicide and [blank_start]23[blank_end]% were from (unnatural causes) *Approx. [blank_start]48[blank_end]% were "other" (accidental, undetermined cause of death) *out of 165 deaths in federal custody, [blank_start]18[blank_end]% were suicides and 8% were murder while [blank_start]73[blank_end]% was "other"

Wobeser et al. found that deaths in penitentiaries, provincial prisons, & police cells -over half (59%) of the 283 male deaths were due to non-natural causes such as suicide, accidental poisoning (overdose) and homicide -male inmates much higher rate of death by poisoning and suicide and homicide than women

Key findings: (1) between 2000 and 2009, [blank_start]388[blank_end] completed cases of deaths in custody were recorded for the 3 provinces ( provincial, federal levels as well as police custody) (2) British Columbia had [blank_start]largest[blank_end] # (150 cases) followed by Ontario (141 cases) & Alberta (97 cases) (3)In terms of gender, [blank_start]males[blank_end] were overrepresented, # of males who died in custody being 356 while female deaths were (32) (4) deaths most frequently took place in prison, followed by hospitals *& in police custody (smallest #) (5) the most frequent manner of death was [blank_start]natural causes[blank_end] (181 cases) , 2nd was “suicide” (78 cases) and homicides accounted for less than 5% of cases (6) analysis of causes of death revealed that 19.1% were drug /alcohol abuse (primary cause) (7) just over 62% of those who died in custody had history of prior medical condition (19.3% has multiple medical problems) (23.2 % had drug related medical problems) (22.9% had “mental health problems”) (5.7% had multiple diagnoses of mental health)