News Release
No Charges to Issue in Relation to Woman’s Hospitalization Following Drug Ingestion While in Kingston Police Cell
Case Number: 20-OCI-178
At approximately 7 p.m. on July 19, 2020, a 48-year-old woman consumed illicit drugs while lodged in a cell at Kingston Police headquarters. She started to display symptoms of a drug overdose within the hour and was taken to hospital. After a period in the Intensive Care Unit, the woman recovered and was discharged from hospital nine days later. Because the woman was in police custody at the time of her drug ingestion, the SIU was notified and commenced an investigation. The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has determined there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the officer who was in charge of the care of prisoners committed a criminal offence in connection with the woman’s time in custody.
Full Director’s Report (with Incident Narrative, Evidence, and Analysis & Director’s Decision):https://www.siu.on.ca/en/directors_reports.php.
The SIU is an independent government agency that investigates the conduct of officials (police officers as well as special constables with the Niagara Parks Commission and peace officers with the Legislative Protective Service) that may have resulted in death, serious injury, sexual assault and/or the discharge of a firearm at a person. All investigations are conducted by SIU investigators who are civilians. Under the Special Investigations Unit Act, the Director of the SIU must
- consider whether the official has committed a criminal offence in connection with the incident under investigation
- depending on the evidence, cause a criminal charge to be laid against the official where grounds exist for doing so, or close the file without any charges being laid
- publicly report the results of its investigations