Report into woman’s 2024 in-custody death in Swift Current released

Following the investigation into a 2024 in-custody death in Swift Current, the Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) has released a report with their findings.

Swift Current RCMP received a request to conduct a wellness check around 11:06 a.m. on May 5. A 55-year-old woman was found at a local hotel but refused assistance from police and EMS, according to SIRT’s report.

She was taken into custody under the Mental Health Services Act and brought into the ambulance waiting outside the hotel. However, on the way to Cypress Regional Hospital, she went into medical distress and became unresponsive. She was pronounced dead at 12:26 p.m. after she was admitted to hospital.

SIRT was notified of the incident the next day. Four investigators and the civilian executive director were sent to Swift Current to begin their investigation.

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An autopsy conducted on May 7 found the woman died from cardiorespiratory arrest, as well as contributing factors including chronic and acute mental conditions, combined drug toxicity, and the stress of police detention.

During SIRT’s investigation, police and civilian witnesses were interviewed, and relevant audio, video, and documentary evidence was seized, the report said.

The report found that while the officer placed the woman under arrest, he did so without any force, and she had been “placed into the care of EMS personnel prior to the onset of her ultimately fatal medical distress.”

“It is further worth noting that prior to placing the affected person under arrest, the Subject Officer attempted to convince the affected person to attend for medical treatment voluntarily,” the report read.

While the woman’s stress from being arrested may have played a part in the timing of her medical distress, the report said the arrest was based on reasonable grounds and reasonably conducted, as the officer did so with prior knowledge of the woman’s substance abuse and self harm.

“The combined information obtained both from the pre-existing information regarding the affected person as well as the observations of the Subject Officer made during the incident provided ample grounds for the Subject Officer to lawfully place the affected person under arrest pursuant to The Mental Health Services Act,” the report read.

The investigation found that the subject officer did not commit any criminal offence during the incident and no charges will be laid.

SIRT’s mandate is to independently investigate in-custody deaths, injury from actions of police officers, and allegations of violence involving police.