RCMP RESPOND TO INQUEST RECOMMENDATIONS

Police say they are open to suggestions on how to improve prisoners' safety
following recommendations from a coroner's inquest.

"We're always looking for ways to improve," said," Staff Sgt. Doug Greep of
the Campbell River RCMP. "It's not an easy thing to do but we are trying to
do a better job."

Adam Wayne Beadle, 27, of Duncan died on March 2 while locked up in a
police cell at the Campbell River RCMP detachment. The official cause of
death was respiratory failure due to an overdose of methadone combined with
other street drugs.

Beadle was the second man in four years to die while incarcerated at the
Campbell River detachment. Stanley George Paul of Campbell River died May
24, 1997, due to excessive alcohol consumption.

A coroner's inquest also investigated Paul's death and made two
recommendations on how jail guards should be trained to better recognize
prisoners who are in need of medical attention.

Those recommendations were never fully followed up claimed Jeanette Beadle
of Chemainus who was in Campbell River recently for the five-day inquest
which examined her son's death.

"They really failed my child," said Beadle following the inquest on Nov.
23. "People shouldn't die in police cells. I want this stopped! And the
only way to do it is yell and scream.

"Nothing was done in '97. How do we get some money to save these people's
lives?"

Following the Beadle inquest, the jury made 12 recommendations which
included the following to police jail guards:

q They should be trained in a level of first aid that deals with drug and
alcohol symptoms.

q Review policies and procedures regarding the resuscitation of a prisoner
who is unconscious and who does not respond.

q Review policy descriptions of persons who are impaired by alcohol and/or
drugs.

At this point, said Staff Sgt. Greep, the recommendations are being
reviewed by RCMP officials at headquarters in Vancouver. The challenge in
implementing these recommendations, he added, has to do with manpower and
safety. There is usually one jail guard on duty at night and there are
safety concerns with a lone guard entering a cell.