Guelph Police Chief Rob Davis says some policies were not followed but there was no police misconduct in a January incident where city police incorrectly declared a woman dead.
"Policy suggests they are not supposed to declare anyone dead unless circumstances are obvious," Davis said. "They didn't follow that to the letter."
Davis said police can only declare a person dead under exceptional or obvious circumstances, such as decapitation or the discovery of decaying human remains.
Davis made his comments Friday. He did so after issuing a statement relating to his review of an internal police report on a Jan. 11 incident at the Days Inn on Gordon Street.
Police were called to the hotel that day after Days Inn staff discovered a woman in a room on the hotel's second floor in circumstances that troubled them. Responding officers deemed the woman dead and refused to allow paramedics to treat her, sealing off the room as a crime scene.
Approximately two hours later, a forensics officer saw the 50-year-old woman twitch while she was being videotaped at close range for evidentiary reasons.
Paramedics were then called back to the scene by police to assess her and discovered what Davis called "faint vital signs." She was then brought to Guelph General Hospital where she was treated and later released.
Davis publicly ordered an internal investigation into the case on Jan. 11. But he said the resulting report will not be made public, calling it a human resources issue.
"It's an internal investigation into how work was done and that's not something you make public," Davis said.
He said several early police attempts to obtain the woman's vital signs were unsuccessful.
Davis said "there was blood spatter about the room."
"There was considerable disarray in the room and there were signs of violence," Davis said. "The officers formed an opinion that something very serious went on in there." However, it was later learned the woman suffered self-inflicted injuries to her arms.
"Evidence certainly suggested it was quite possible a criminal offence had been committed and the victim met her demise as a result of foul play," Davis wrote in the Friday media release. The release also asserted motel staff and management believed the woman was dead when police were called.
While police treated the room as a crime scene, they denied paramedics and firefighters access to the woman.
Davis has since issued what he called "a personal apology" to Guelph's director of Emergency Services, Shawn Armstrong, and Guelph-Wellington Emergency Medical Service (EMS) chief Sandy Smith.
Davis said he understands there are certain things paramedics must do, namely the preservation of life.
"They are required to administer CPR and first aid," Davis said. "And we work under the same guise." However, Davis said he isn't sure whether his officers performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the woman. "Our officers immediately reverted to protection of the scene," Davis said. "Police and EMS and fire all know what their role is. What we have to do is identify a way to get them in to perform their functions without destroying the integrity of the scene.
"And we know there are ways to get people in and out without disturbing evidence."
Sometime between the discovery of her vital signs and her arrival at hospital, police discovered the identity of the woman. Davis said she "came to and identified herself."
The chief said he did not come across anything in the report that suggests responding officers looked for or found the woman's identification in the room. He also said he was not sure whether officers checked to see who was registered to the room.
Davis said responding officers were likely unaware the woman had previous dealings with Guelph Police in the 14 days leading up to her discovery.
On New Year's Eve, police officers found her in a distressed mental state and escorted her to Guelph General Hospital. On Jan. 3, officers found her wandering about in the cold in a confused state.
"Unless they were the same officers, they wouldn't likely know (that)," Davis said.
According to the media release, the police have closed the case but will develop training, co-ordinated with the Emergency Medical Service and front-line fire responders, to help ensure a similar situation does not arise. "Changes will also be made to operating procedures to provide better direction to field officers."
