News Release
No Wrongdoing Found on Part of Belleville Officer in Connection to Woman Falling into Acute Medical Distress While Lodged in Cell
Case Number: 20-OCI-354
In the early morning hours of December 16, 2020, a 54-year-old woman was in a Belleville Police Service cell when she fell into acute medical distress and was transported to hospital. The officer with overall responsibility for the care of prisoners at that time was identified as the subject official for purposes of the SIU investigation. The Director of the Special Investigations Unit, Joseph Martino, has determined there are no reasonable grounds to believe that the officer committed a criminal offence in connection with the woman’s medical condition.
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