Coroner's Jury Calls for Mayor and Council To Approve Funding for New RCMP Building

By 250 News

Prince George, B.C – After three hours of deliberations, the  three man, two woman  jury at the Coroner’s inquest into the death of 42 year old Cheryl Ann Bouey has  ruled  her death  a suicide and has made ten recommendations to prevent a similar  tragedy in the future.

Bouey hanged herself  from the cell bars at the Prince George RCMP detachment  June 26^th 2008, with a noose she had fashioned from the drawstring of her jogging pants.  She had been arrested along with a male friend, for being drunk in a public place.

There were nine recommendations directed to  the  City Manager Derek Bates and to Gary Bass the Deputy Commissioner Pacific Region of the RCMP:

1.     Guard staffing levels be increased on traditionally  busier days

2.     Amend RCMP “E” Division Operational Manual part 21 – Search and Seizure and 21.2 Personal Search section 2.1 to add examples of what to look for such as draw strings in pant waists, ankles, shirt/sweater draw strings, belts bras, shoe laces, hats, jewellery etc.

3.     The guards shall carry a radio at all times and supervisors shall enforce this through  progressive disciplinary action

4.     Monitors within the guard room should be upgraded to an anti-glare, larger, flat screen style

5.     Cameras should be installed within  the guard room

6.     Until such time as a new jail is constructed, the current cells should be upgraded by: removing the expanded metal grating on the bars and doors, replacing it with a clear, see through plexi-glass/lexan covering and two guards to be on duty at all times

7.     Policy review by  guards to be formally documented

8.     Policies and procedures for Prince George Guards and RCMP in reference to the RCMP lock up should be reviewed for  contradictions and inconsistencies

9.     The guard room to be reorganized in order to provide guards a better view of the cell camera monitors while being able to complete the computer logs

The final recommendation  was to Mayor and Council of the City of Prince George:

10.  That Prince George City Council approve funding for a new RCMP station including a new lock up. Recommendations from all staff associated with the Prince George lock up to be sought and considered respecting the construction of a new lock up.

Although it was  the last item on the list, the  jury’s call for  the City to approve funding for the new RCMP building may be the most difficult   with which to comply.   The proposed new RCMP  detachment is a project that at last estimate will cost $45 million  dollars and will require taxpayer approval before  the City can borrow the money for the project.

The recommendations also call for upgrades to the current cells.  The condition of the cells at the Prince George detachment was brought up during the inquest and the jury had requested, and was granted,  a field trip to see the  cell where Bouey died. The Prince George detachment had been requesting cell upgrades since 2004 but the funding didn’t come.

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