KAMSACK – The Saskatchewan Serious Incident Response Team (SIRT) has launched an investigation into the death of a 61-year-old man while in custody at the Kamsack RCMP Detachment.
According to authorities, on June 3 a man voluntarily approached an RCMP member during provincial court in Kamsack and advised that a family member had outstanding arrest warrants that he wished to deal with.
He was taken into custody without incident at 12:22 p.m., taken to the detachment, searched, and given the opportunity to speak with a lawyer before being placed in a cell at 12:43 p.m. According to an RCMP media release on June 6, the man was wanted by Saskatchewan RCMP on multiple outstanding warrants.
On June 4, the man appeared in court via CCTV and was remanded until his next scheduled appearance scheduled for June 6. But on the evening of June 5, at about 7:02 p.m., a cell guard discovered the man unresponsive in his cell. Emergency Medical Services (EMS) were contacted and arrived by 8:37 p.m., at which time the man was pronounced deceased.
SIRT was notified of the incident at approximately 8 p.m. on June 5, and, a SIRT team consisting of five SIRT investigators was sent to Kamsack to begin their investigation.
A community liaison will also be appointed, as required by The Police Act. SIRT's investigation will examine the conduct of police during this incident, including the circumstances surrounding the man's arrest and the cause of his death.
A final report will be issued to the public within 90 days of the investigation ending.
SIRT's mandate is to investigate alleged cases of serious injury, death, sexual assault or interpersonal violence arising from the actions or omissions of on and off-duty police officers, or while an individual is in police custody.
This story has been updated to correct the date the death was discovered.
