WETASKIWIN — An Alberta judge says the RCMP should ask incoming prisoners if they’ve taken drugs before putting them in cells.
The findings spring from a fatality inquiry into the death of Arthur Lafrance, who died in RCMP cells in Hobbema on Oct. 15, 2007.
Lafrance was arrested for causing a disturbance and taken into cells that day.
Police were aware he had been drinking, but their procedures didn’t require them to ask if he had been using drugs.
Lafrance had been taking heavy doses of a prescription painkiller, which caused his death later that day.
The judge said police should ask incoming prisoners if they have taken any drugs, and when, and should also ask the questions of friends or family.