Province has already said it has ‘no plans’ for a sobering centre in Kamloops, one of several recommendations to make the system safer.
Content warning: This story includes detailed description of a death in police custody. Please look after your spirit and read with care.
APTN News: IndigiNews – Regina Basil always did everything she could to protect her younger brother, Randy Lampreau.
Their family grew up at Chu Chua in Simpcw First Nation and are also from Bonaparte First Nation. Basil said she and her siblings were raised harvesting medicines, learning about their culture and sharing with and helping one another.
“(Randy) was never angry, always smiling, joking — you know, goofy,” she said.
“He had a beautiful smile and he was never disrespectful. That’s not how we were brought up.”
As adults, Basil and Lampreau stayed close. But in the early morning hours of March 13, 2019, as Lampreau spent his final hours in a cell at the RCMP detachment in “Kamloops,” his family couldn’t be there to look after him.
The 49-year-old died alone, in medical distress, in “custody” of the police force.
“He was their responsibility, and they failed, ultimately,” Basil said. “Because my brother mattered, you know, and the way he was treated in the cells and neglected, it was out of (his) family’s hands.”
On July 26, a coroner’s inquest jury issued five recommendations in the wake of Lampreau’s death, after a five-day court proceeding examining his case.
These recommendations — aimed at the city, province and RCMP — include the creation of a sobering centre in the City of Kamloops.
The jury also recommended a comprehensive review of RCMP policies related to prisoner wellness, increased medical care and Indigenous support at the police detachment, and updating the status of jail guards to safety officers.
IIO concluded death was because of a health issue, not neglect
During a coroner’s inquest between July 22 to 26, the jury heard that Lampreau was brought to the Kamloops RCMP detachment in March 2019 on grounds of public intoxication.
Police held him in a cell overnight, during which he fell backward onto the floor. Guards checked on him after that fall, the inquest heard, but he died later that night.
B.C.’s police watchdog, the Independent Investigations Office (IIO), concluded in 2019 that his death was not the result of neglect from RCMP staff, but a health issue.
A coroner’s report found Lampreau’s cause of death was lymphocytic myocarditis — inflammation of the heart muscles — and methamphetamine toxicity in his system.
The inquest’s role was to determine the facts surrounding Lampreau’s death and for the jury to make recommendations to prevent similar deaths in the future.
The week-long inquest heard from various witnesses who dealt with Lampreau before and after he died — including police, medical professionals and experts. Basil opened the inquest by talking about who her brother was as a person.
She explained that she and her other siblings attended residential “school” when Lampreau was still a baby, and they did their best to shield him from the trauma they experienced.
“So we protected him as a young child,” she said. “It was really nice to have him as a brother.”
He grew up as a positive, happy and talented person, but struggled with mental health issues, and ended up living on the street, Basil explained. Before Lampreau died, Basil said she and her family members had been trying to get him help and bring him home.
“It affected me because I’m his sister — older sister. I’m there to protect and guide him to the light. That’s how we are,” she said. “So, I’m here today just to make it so that it doesn’t happen to anyone else.”
Guard assumed Lampreau was sleeping it off
RCMP Cst. Vivek Mangat was working general duty on the night of March 12, 2019, when he got called to the Mustard Seed overnight shelter in Kamloops to pick up Lampreau, who was reported as intoxicated. He was banned from the facility.
“So I went across the parking lot to go and chat with him, see how he was doing and what’s going on,” Mangat testified.
Mangat said he could tell Lampreau was intoxicated because he had “slurred speech, bloodshot eyes” and trouble balancing.
Mangat said he detained Lampreau on the grounds that he believed he wouldn’t be able to care for himself if he were left alone.
Once they were at the detachment, Mangat said Lampreau was swaying back and forth, and officers helped him to stay upright while they escorted him to a cell.
He said it’s usual practice to bring intoxicated people into custody overnight until they sober up and release them the next day without charges.
Richard Franklin, a community services officer with the City of Kamloops, was on guard duty the night Lampreau died. Franklin told the jury he checked on cell blocks — including Lampreau’s — every 15 minutes that night, as he usually does.
“I always check to see if there’s breathing,” Franklin testified. “I like to see the chest rise, and if I don’t — I can’t see any of that — I bang on the door, knock on the door, try to wake them up.”
If that doesn’t work, Franklin continued, he’ll contact an RCMP officer at the detachment to be allowed into the cell-block, as jail guards don’t have the authority to open the cells.
The jury also watched a five minute video of Franklin walking up and down the aisle between cells, beginning just after 10 p.m. on March 12 and concluding at 11:30 p.m.
According to the IIO investigation, Lampreau fell backward shortly before 1 a.m. on the cell floor, which was described during the inquest as a “very hard” cement surface coated with texturized rubber.
Lampreau apparently told the guard he was fine and was seen moving around the cell until about 3 a.m. when he laid down and was assumed to be sleeping it off, according to the IIO.
Adrian Wild, an investigator with the IIO, described to the jury video footage that was taken in Lampreau’s cell.
“At 3:10 [a.m.] Mr. Lampreau laid on his right side, and there was an unusual kind of slightly jerk motion of his body,” Wild said.
“At that point, after 3:12 a.m., there’s no further movement.”
Roughly three hours later, during a shift change, guards realized Lampreau had not moved noticeably in some time, and when they turned on the lights they saw his “colour wasn’t right,” the IIO’s decision report said.
Paramedic Steven Sayban told the inquest he was called to the scene early that morning and Lampreau was unresponsive. After examining him, Sayban explained that it was clear he was deceased and “in one of the earlier stages of rigor mortis.”
Forensic pathologist Steven White testified that when he examined the body, the inflammation in Lampreau’s heart was the most severe thing he observed. He said the drug methamphetamine can trigger a heart attack or arrhythmia if someone has pre-existing heart issues.
“So it’s those two things together that really, ultimately caused his death,” White said. He added that there were “really no signs of injury to the head.”
Cst. Mangat acknowledged that “jail may not be the best place” for an intoxicated person and that a sobering centre could be a good alternative.
The inquest jury recommended that the province, Interior Health Authority and City of Kamloops “immediately allocate funding and resources towards the opening of a sobering centre in the City of Kamloops.”
Sobering centres provide short-term shelter for people who are intoxicated that includes monitoring and assessment, as well as referrals and information related to mental health and addiction. Basil said she feels the sobering centre is one of the most pressing recommendations.
“They didn’t even do a sobriety test on my brother. It was all word of mouth because of his actions,” she said.
“This way a medical person can assess that also, with a doctor and decide what’s going on with them, what’s suitable.”
However, the provincial government reportedly told Radio NL it has “no plans for a sobering centre in Kamloops” at this time.
Instead, the statement from the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions said the province is “committed to continuing to work with Interior Health, the city, and all partners to urgently expand mental health and addiction care for people in the area.”
‘We shouldn’t have to lose a life just to have things updated’
The first three recommendations from the inquest were directed at the RCMP and the City of Kamloops, suggesting an immediate and comprehensive review of RCMP policies related to prisoner wellness and jail block operations.
This includes reviewing procedures and training guards to confirm prisoners are alive based on their breathing, increasing the brightness of cell lights during checks, and assessing prisoners’ wellness after any falls or injuries.
The jury also recommended the city and police “hire and sufficiently staff RCMP Kamloops detachment jail cell block with health care professionals including registered nurses to assess that prisoners are medically suitable to be placed in cells,” as well as “an Indigenous liaison to assist with communication and coordination with Indigenous peoples who interact with the detachment.”
Cole Winegarden works for the province’s Policing and Security Branch as a senior director of legislation. He spoke about an ongoing effort to close what he described as a gap in the Police Act when it comes to overseeing jail guards.
When Lampreau died, the guards responsible for his care did not fall under the IIO’s mandate when they investigated the case.
“Because a number of people working as jail guards are not considered police officers under the Police Act, they are not subject to either IIO or OPCC (Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner) oversight,” Winegarden said.
He said there are amendments to the Police Act in the works — the first applies IIO oversight to anyone working as a detention guard, regardless of whether they are a police officer. The second proposal requires municipalities of a certain size to employ a new class of police, called safety officers, as detention guards.
The inquest jury’s fifth and final recommendation was that the minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General “urgently prioritize” this work.
Basil agreed, saying “There need to be consequences” and she feels there wasn’t proper training for the guards who were supposed to look after her brother.
However, Basil feels satisfied that the inquest covered all the bases on its recommendations, Basil remains heartbroken, describing how her younger brother has grandchildren he never had a chance to meet, and how she misses their phone calls.
“We shouldn’t have to lose a life just to have things updated, you know?” she said.
Story by Cara McKenna/IndigiNews and Aaron Hemens/Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
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