The province’s ombudsperson is once again calling for independent oversight of municipal jail guards in communities policed by the RCMP.
In a news release issued on Wednesday, B.C. ombudsperson Jay Chalke says the issue has been brought up many times before, to no avail.
The latest call, says Chalke, came after a man with a fractured hip spent hours in overnight cells before being taken to hospital. That incident happened in 2019 in Prince George, with the Independent Investigations Office of BC issuing a report on it.
Released on June 15, that eight-page report detailed how the man, believed to be high on drugs or drunk while erratically riding a bicycle, was pulled over and told he was under arrest for being intoxicated in a public place.
The man, though, rode away. Police eventually confronted the man, with the report saying he was rushed’ and hip-tossed to the ground.
The report says cellphone video shows the man walking with difficulty, with the man screaming in apparent pain in a second video.
The man was taken to police cells, where he would spend hours in pain before being taken to hospital.
A civilian jail guard said she noted in her logbook that the man was complaining about a broken leg, “and that she ‘would have’ passed on that information to ‘numerous people,’ but ‘nobody seemed concerned about it, so I wasn’t concerned either.’”
The IIO report said her log entries described the man “lying on his side, facing the wall, crying” or “yelling loudly.”
“Asked about this, the (jail guard) responded ‘He made a lot of noise that night, but then, he always does — he’s a very obnoxious drunk person … I like to say that he’s ugly inside as well as out.’”
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The report found that the jail guard was aware of the man complaining about an injury, and that her attitude towards prisoners “was antagonistic and motivated by ‘revenge’ of some sort. Her significant antipathy towards prisoners, and towards (the man) specifically, was demonstrated by her own responses in her IIO interview.”
The report, however, couldn’t find fault, as the jail guard is a city employee, not an officer under the Police Act. And because of that, the IIO said it didn’t have the authority to refer her to Crown counsel for consideration of criminal charges.
The IIO report said the RCMP did its own investigation, and no criminal charges would be referred to Crown counsel.
Enter B.C.’s Office of the Ombudsperson.
“The recent IIO report describes a man screaming in agony for hours who was later diagnosed with a fractured hip. This is unacceptable,” said Chalke.
“Currently, there is no independent oversight body where allegations of misconduct in these situations can be brought forward. I have raised this issue several times over the past four years and have again written to the Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General to highlight how this case is a vivid reminder of the urgent need to close this gap.”
The office of the ombudsperson says while communities with populations of 5,000 and greater must provide detention facilities for prisoners, oversight of municipal staff responsible for running them varies.
“However, in lockups in communities policed by the RCMP, there is no independent agency with legal authority to investigate a complaint about such municipal jail guards,” said the Office of the Ombudsperson.
Further, Chalke says he’s received a number of complaints about municipal guards, including a young woman who was menstruating while detained and was denied feminine hygiene products and access to a shower.
Chalke says another complaint came from a woman, who, following a domestic assault, said she experienced an attempted strip search by a male guard.
“We were not able to investigate these complaints as the Police Act specifically excludes my office’s oversight of matters that arise under that Act,” said Chalke. “Unfortunately, there was no other independent oversight body where we could refer these individuals.”
Chalke also said, “too many years have passed with no significant movement on this issue. In light of the IIO’s recent report, I am reiterating the urgent need for action on this matter. No person should be in custody without recourse to independent oversight.”
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