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External agency reviewing La Ronge cell death

Jun 2, 2015 | 3:24 PM

The La Ronge RCMP detachment has handed over the investigation into a sudden death of a 43-year-old man who was in their custody.

An RCMP representative confirms it’s to ensure there was no wrongdoing on the RCMP’s behalf.

The man was found unresponsive in the La Ronge RCMP cell area at 12:02 a.m. on Monday, June 1, taken to La Ronge Hospital, and Saskatoon following that. The man was pronounced dead at that time, according to an RCMP news release.

The RCMP is not providing details on the nature of the death, nor how long the man was in custody.

The RCMP has made a request for Saskatoon Police Service’s (SPS) Major Crime Unit to independently perform an external investigation, and for the ministry of justice to appoint an independent observer.

RCMP changes to its External Investigations and Review Policy made in 2010 outlined the reasons why an external police service would investigate a serious injury or death.   

A Saskatchewan RCMP representative confirms the agency’s request for SPS to investigate is in keeping with the following portion of its policy:

“The new policy refers all cases where RCMP actions have resulted in serious injury or death or where RCMP officers may have acted inappropriately in serious or sensitive matters” to external agencies, the policy reads.

That policy states an independent observer’s role is to “assess and report on the impartiality and independence of investigations.”

The RCMP defines an independent external investigation as “… an investigation for which the RCMP would normally have investigative responsibility but… the RCMP has requested an external law enforcement agency or a federally, provincially or territorially established investigative agency to conduct, and includes both the pre- and post-charge phases of such an investigation.”

claskowski@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @chelsealaskowsk