Warning: This story includes content dealing with attempted suicide.
A Timmins Police officer has been cleared of wrongdoing during an incident that saw a man in police custody attempt suicide.
In a report released today (Feb. 8), Special Investigations Unit (SIU) director Joseph Martino said there are no reasonable grounds to believe the TimminsPolice officer committed a criminal offence in the October 2023 incident.
The SIU is an arms-length agency that investigates police-involved incidents where there has been a death, serious injury, allegations of sexual assault, or the discharge of a firearm at a person.
The incident happened on Oct. 10, 2023.
That night, a 48-year-old man was arrested for domestic assault at a Father Costello Drive-area residence. The man was "intoxicated and emotionally distraught" at the time of the arrest, said SIU in the report.
The accused was brought back to the Timmins Police station and was seen in "good health" at 10 p.m. and around 10:20 p.m., the SIU report says officers saw the man on cell video cameras and he was hanging from his T-shirt.
"The cell officer responded, and the T-shirt was cut and removed to allow for entry into the cell area," reads the report.
The man in custody didn't have any vital signs. Emergency medical services were called and he was brought by ambulance to Timmins and District Hospital, admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) and treated for a brain injury.
"He was reportedly on a ventilator and unresponsive," according to the report.
In the cruiser on the way to the station, the man in custody made comments about wanting to die. Minutes after being in the cell, he made his first suicide attempt, however, a person in a nearby cell talked him out of it.
The officer also saw it on a video monitor. The officer went to the cell to caution the man that he'd be "stripped of his clothing if he tried again" and the man said he'd "behave" himself.
In his report, Martino said he's "satisfied that the (officer) comported himself with due regard for (the man's) health and safety."
Martino notes that the man had a similar incident at the police station the month before, but that there's no evidence to show that the officer knew about that history or that the prior incident was flagged in the man's record.
After the officer was aware of the comments in the car and the initial suicide attempt, Martino wrote that the officer would "have been better served to take additional steps to prevent a further suicide attempt at that time."
"He chose, instead, to caution the complainant and rely on his assurance that his behaviour would stop. Whatever the merits of that judgment, I am unable to reasonably conclude that it rendered the (officer’s) conduct a marked departure from a reasonable standard of care. In arriving at that conclusion, I am mindful that the officer, despite being occupied with other duties, was alert to the complainant’s predicament in fairly short order and thereafter acted quickly to cut the ligature and provide care," Martino wrote.
If you or someone you know is thinking about suicide, 24/7 support is available by calling or texting 988, Canada's national suicide prevention hotline.
