Man left in own filth on cell floor
The RCMP officers and guards who were working in Whitehorse cells the day Raymond Silverfox died saw that the Carmacks man had soiled himself and his cell but left him lying on the floor of the drunk tank.
The RCMP officers and guards who were working in Whitehorse cells the day Raymond Silverfox died saw that the Carmacks man had soiled himself and his cell but left him lying on the floor of the drunk tank.
The two officers who were working in cells that day took the stand yesterday during the third day of a coroner’s inquest into the 43-year-old man’s death.
Silverfox died on Dec. 2, 2008 at Whitehorse General Hospital 16 hours after police picked him up from the Salvation Army shelter and put him in cells to sober up.
The shelter staff had called the ambulance for help because Silverfox was repeatedly vomiting on the floor of the dining lounge. The paramedics offered to take him to the hospital, but he refused, so they called the police. He was arrested and put in the drunk tank with a note to “release when sober.”
But Silverfox’s condition only got worse. He spent the entire day lying on the floor of his cell, rolling from side to side, unable to control his bodily functions, according to the descriptions of his behaviour from constables Jeff Kalles and Dennis Connelly.
Both men started their shifts at 7:00 that morning, about two hours after Silverfox had been brought in. Each said he looked into Silverfox’s cell at the beginning of his shift, and Connelly released Silverfox’s two cell mates at 7 a.m.
Earlier in the inquest, the coroner’s jury heard from one of those men, Dougie Jack, who said he asked Connelly to help Silverfox.
“He was really sick. I knew there was something wrong with him,” Jack told the jury. “... We told (the officer), ‘this guy needs help.’ ... He just said ‘get your stuff and get out.
We’re really busy today.’ I remember that clear as day.”
Connelly, however, said he did not remember having that exchange. He did remember seeing Silverfox had wet his pants, and told Jack and his friend to avoid the puddle on the floor as they left the cell.
“He’s definitely pissed himself,” he announced to the other officers as he entered the guard room. Recording devices placed throughout the cell block and guard room captured everything said there during the day, but both officers denied saying certain things shown in the transcript of the tape.
At one point, according to the transcript, Connelly told one of his coworkers Silverfox had “pissed himself” but hadn’t taken off his pants “because he’s pooped in them.” But Connelly insisted he said “because it’s cool in there,” and did not notice Silverfox had soiled himself.
At another point, the transcript records Connelly as saying “Poopy, Poopy, McPoopy,” after looking into Silverfox’s cell. He testified yesterday he didn’t remember saying such a thing.
Kalles, who was the officer in charge of the cells, said when he returned to the area after being out for the day, one of the guards told him Silverfox’s cell was dirty.
He looked at it on the surveillance monitor and noted most of the floor was smeared with vomit and feces. He estimated 60 per cent of the cell floor was covered in bodily fluids. But Silverfox remained lying on the floor of the filthy cell and no one attempted to clean him up or give him fresh clothes.
Connelly said Silverfox asked for a mat at one point, but was refused. At no point did either man think to get medical help for Silverfox because both assumed he was just sick from drinking.
At one point, Kalles is recorded as saying “He must be on drugs or something ... because he can’t get up. He’s just rolling around.”
When asked whose responsibility it is to keep the cells clean, Connelly said “everyone.”
Kalles was less clear in his answer to that repeated question, but ultimately said the guards, officers and watch commander. He told the coroner the watch commander is responsible for determining if someone is in an “uninhabitable” cell, and for determining if someone is in medical distress.
It was also noted the watch commanders rely on communication from the guards and officers because they do not often go down to the cells.
During their testimonies, both officers referred to changes at the RCMP detachment since Silverfox’s death. There is better communication between guards and members now, Kalles said, and the ambulance is being called more often. He said emergency medical services has come to the detachment more than 100 times since the beginning of the year.
Senior officers in the detachment also met with the guards and officers who work in the cells after Silverfox’s death and reiterated many of the policies on treatment and care of intoxicated people, Kalles noted.
The jury has not yet heard from anyone who was working when Silverfox was taken to the hospital. They have heard his death was pneumonia-related.
The corner’s inquest into Silverfox’s death is scheduled to continue until Friday. The two-woman, four-man jury will then be asked to determine how Silverfox died and will be invited to make recommendations on how such a death may be prevented in the future.
Their recommendations are non-binding and they are not supposed to find fault as in a trial.
The inquest is being overseen by chief coroner Sharon Hanley.
Donald McKenzie
Apr 20, 2010 at 9:00 pm
While I understand that Mr. Silverfox soiled himself, and that is part and parcel, of his death, I cannot understand why a little compassion cannot be shown. Why does it have to be force-fed to us, in such a manner, that it will be the ONLY thought we will have of the deceased? He’s dead, and the last bit of dignity he will ever have, is gone as well. Then I think of this person’s family, and feel awful for them, as this is being pushed on the public.