An Edmonton Police Service (EPS) officer and two former Community Peace Officers (CPO) have been charged following an internal investigation surrounding the death of an adult male who died while in police custody in 2020..In March 2020, a 38-year-old was located deceased inside a cell in EPS’ former Detainee Management Unit (DMU)..An autopsy was conducted in March 2020 and determined the man’s cause of death to be a result of fentanyl toxicity..The man was not been publicly named.."As a result of this in-custody death, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) was directed to investigate and a report was released on Oct. 12, 2022, summarizing their findings," EPS said.."Following the conclusion of ASIRT’s investigation, EPS investigators were tasked with the follow-up investigation, which was sent to the Calgary Crown Prosecution Service for an opinion.".Mathieu Labrie, 32, Jeffrey Mullenix, 52, and Const. Yi Yang, 35, were jointly charged with failing to provide the necessaries of life.."All three accused were CPOs working in EPS’ former detainee unit at the time of the incident," EPS said.."Const. Yang is currently on administrative leave with pay. The other two accused are not employed by the EPS.".As the matter is currently before the courts, the EPS said it is not able to provide further comment or information about the incident or investigation.."Police officers and other officials generally owe a duty of care to detainees under their watch. Where a detainee goes into medical distress while in custody, criminal liability may result where the person in charge failed to exercise reasonable care," the ASIRT report stated.."Potential offences include failing to provide the necessaries of life and criminal negligence causing bodily harm. Failing to provide the necessaries of life looks at whether there was a marked departure from the conduct of the reasonably prudent person.".ASIRT said the necessities of life can include many aspects such as medical attention.."It must be objectively foreseeable that the failure to provide the necessities of life would risk danger to the life or permanent endangerment," the report said..The report details how the man consumed drugs while in a cell with someone at EPS DMU.."The video appears to show (both men) consuming drugs while in the cell," the ASIRT report said.."He immediately seemed to be unsettled after doing so and then laid down. He appeared to spasm shortly after that.".It is not clear whether the man immediately went into medical distress at this time, or if he did in the following hours, the report noted.."This lack of clarity is due to the fact that the CPOs in DMU were not conducting the hourly arousal checks required by EPS policy," ASIRT stated.."By the time someone had noticed that the man was not well at 1:42 p.m., he could not be resuscitated.".After analyzing video, ASIRT found that the peace officers failed to do a single arousal check on the man from 8:30 a.m. to 1:42 p.m.."Arousal checks must be completed every hour. Arousal checks require that a detainee be awoken and spoken to in order to confirm that they are responsive and not in need of medical assistance. Arousal checks can be done with the CPO outside of the cell but, if the detainee does not respond, the CPO must enter the cell," the report states.."No police officers were involved with the man once he was in cells, and there are therefore no grounds to believe any police officer committed an offence.".The actions of the CPOs are outside of the mandate of ASIRT, the report concluded.
An Edmonton Police Service (EPS) officer and two former Community Peace Officers (CPO) have been charged following an internal investigation surrounding the death of an adult male who died while in police custody in 2020..In March 2020, a 38-year-old was located deceased inside a cell in EPS’ former Detainee Management Unit (DMU)..An autopsy was conducted in March 2020 and determined the man’s cause of death to be a result of fentanyl toxicity..The man was not been publicly named.."As a result of this in-custody death, the Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) was directed to investigate and a report was released on Oct. 12, 2022, summarizing their findings," EPS said.."Following the conclusion of ASIRT’s investigation, EPS investigators were tasked with the follow-up investigation, which was sent to the Calgary Crown Prosecution Service for an opinion.".Mathieu Labrie, 32, Jeffrey Mullenix, 52, and Const. Yi Yang, 35, were jointly charged with failing to provide the necessaries of life.."All three accused were CPOs working in EPS’ former detainee unit at the time of the incident," EPS said.."Const. Yang is currently on administrative leave with pay. The other two accused are not employed by the EPS.".As the matter is currently before the courts, the EPS said it is not able to provide further comment or information about the incident or investigation.."Police officers and other officials generally owe a duty of care to detainees under their watch. Where a detainee goes into medical distress while in custody, criminal liability may result where the person in charge failed to exercise reasonable care," the ASIRT report stated.."Potential offences include failing to provide the necessaries of life and criminal negligence causing bodily harm. Failing to provide the necessaries of life looks at whether there was a marked departure from the conduct of the reasonably prudent person.".ASIRT said the necessities of life can include many aspects such as medical attention.."It must be objectively foreseeable that the failure to provide the necessities of life would risk danger to the life or permanent endangerment," the report said..The report details how the man consumed drugs while in a cell with someone at EPS DMU.."The video appears to show (both men) consuming drugs while in the cell," the ASIRT report said.."He immediately seemed to be unsettled after doing so and then laid down. He appeared to spasm shortly after that.".It is not clear whether the man immediately went into medical distress at this time, or if he did in the following hours, the report noted.."This lack of clarity is due to the fact that the CPOs in DMU were not conducting the hourly arousal checks required by EPS policy," ASIRT stated.."By the time someone had noticed that the man was not well at 1:42 p.m., he could not be resuscitated.".After analyzing video, ASIRT found that the peace officers failed to do a single arousal check on the man from 8:30 a.m. to 1:42 p.m.."Arousal checks must be completed every hour. Arousal checks require that a detainee be awoken and spoken to in order to confirm that they are responsive and not in need of medical assistance. Arousal checks can be done with the CPO outside of the cell but, if the detainee does not respond, the CPO must enter the cell," the report states.."No police officers were involved with the man once he was in cells, and there are therefore no grounds to believe any police officer committed an offence.".The actions of the CPOs are outside of the mandate of ASIRT, the report concluded.
