(file photo/paNOW)

By Susan McNeil

Coroner's Inquest

Increased suicide screening recommended following inmate death

Aug 31, 2022 | 3:38 PM

More screening and a better flow of information are among the recommendations of jury paneled in the inquest into the death of Robert McAdam in 2019.

The jury was told that McAdam died by suicide the night of December 26, having hung himself in his cell in the segregation unit of the Prince Albert Correctional Centre.

“We recommend that all inmates receive a suicide assessment quarterly in the sense that all inmates being moved to a higher-level unit, and inmates not being moved both have access to the suicide preventative measures in place,” said one of the six-person jury’s recommendations, released yesterday.

A line of questioning taken by the lawyer for McAdam’s family focused on asking correctional officers how well they could recognize suicidal tendencies or ideations in the inmates and if they were aware of triggers like being moved to a new unit or an anniversary such as the death of a loved one.

In McAdam’s case, three officers were asked if they were aware McAdam had lost a son and that the anniversary of the death of the boy was approaching.

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None had, but they agreed that while having personal knowledge of an inmate’s situation would help, there are too many prisoners, and they are moved too frequently– as are staff– for it to be feasible for correctional officers to be aware of potential triggers.

The jury further recommended that inmates who spend 21 to 23 hours per day in their cells, such as the segregation unit, be given weekly suicide assessments.

It was recommended that half-hour checks for a ‘live breathing body’ replace the hourly checks that are now used on high-level units and that an extra officer be assigned to the unit so there would always be four available to deal with inmates and do checks.

The fourth and final recommendation was for the provincial suicide prevention protocol match the PACC procedural directive on suicide prevention in order to stop CO’s from not understanding clearly what is expected from them in suicide prevention.

The jury convened on Monday, August 29 and wrapped up the following day.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com