The Vancouver Police Department plans to install security cameras in the back of all nine of its wagons as a measure to minimize further deaths and injuries of prisoners, says a report going before the Vancouver Police Board Thursday.
The move is in response to recommendations from separate coroners’ juries involved in inquests where two people died in 2014 after being found unconscious in the back of Vancouver police wagons.
“During the first half of 2016, the VPD will research options with regard to acquiring the cameras, how best to operationalize the process of monitoring the cameras, and the required technology to implement the cameras and to record, download and store the images, along with all associated start-up and ongoing costs,” the report said. “Introducing cameras in the wagons is a significant undertaking with many obstacles that the VPD will attempt to overcome. The most obvious obstacle is that of funding to acquire the cameras and potentially store video.”
Gregory Douglas Lloyd, 43, died in February 2014 in hospital five days after police arrested him for breaching court-ordered conditions not to consume alcohol or be in a one-block radius of an apartment in the 2100-block of Triumph Street. After parking the wagon at the Vancouver jail on East Cordova Street, police discovered Lloyd with a shoelace around his neck. It was tied to wire mesh covering the inside of the wagon’s door. His death was ruled a suicide.
Cheryl Ann Cowan, 58, died in December 2014, eight days after going into medical distress while in a wagon. Police arrested Cowan after responding to a 911 call of a woman causing a disturbance at a family member's house. Cowan’s cause of death was “severe anoxic brain injury due to a cardiac arrest,” according to documents released by the Independent Investigations Office. Police didn't know she was unconscious until an officer opened the door of the wagon parked at the jail. Nurses, jail staff, a doctor and firefighters all responded to Cowan, who regained a pulse after treatment from paramedics. She was on life support in hospital until her death, Dec. 23, 2014.
Juries in both inquests recommended cameras be installed in the wagons to ensure the safety of prisoners when transported to jail. The VPD is currently replacing all nine of its wagons and says its goal is to equip all of them with cameras.
Josh Paterson, executive director of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, said he welcomed the VPD’s move to install the cameras, saying it makes a lot of sense provided the footage is used, stored or deleted in accordance with privacy laws. Paterson said the footage should also be made accessible to any prisoners who may later have a complaint against the VPD for the manner in which they were transported or handled by police.
“It makes sense that there should be some way of having some accountability later on if things go wrong in those tightly confined spaces,” said Paterson, noting video evidence can be crucial in cases involving the police. “It doesn’t answer every question – sometimes it raises more questions. But overall, it’s a massive help for holding police accountability but also for exonerating police, if there are false accusations. It goes both ways.”
Following Lloyd’s death, the police department installed “Lexan glass” over the wire mesh screens on the inside of the wagons’ doors. The VPD’s medical service provider at the jail also hired staff with experience in emergency wards. Police now remove prisoners from the wagons at the jail “as soon as practicable,” said the report, noting police previously conducted the necessary paper work on the prisoner before unloading the wagon.
Other recommendations of the juries’ included:
· That all patrol officers be required to maintain certification in basic first-aid and CPR.
· Implement a protocol that would require officers to provide immediate assistance during medical emergencies while awaiting paramedics.
· Reinforce scenario training to deal with emergencies related to the transportation of a prisoner.
· Ensure all appropriate first-aid equipment and supplies be accessible in all VPD vehicles, the entrance to the jail and at the jail.
The police board meets at 1 p.m. Thursday to discuss the report.
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