A jury at a corner’s inquest into the death of a man who passed away while in Prince Albert police custody has come back with a number of recommendations.
Seventy-seven-year-old Morris Ermine was found unresponsive in a police cell on July 19, 2012.
He was later pronounced dead in a Saskatoon hospital.
Ermine had been picked up the previous evening by Prince Albert police for public intoxication.
Jury recommendations include mandatory recertification in CPR and first aid training for guards and police officers and improved communications between police and the local health authority.
The jury also recommends increasing capacity in local detox programs and securing a cardiologist to perform angiograms within Prince Albert area.
Provincial legislation requires a coroner’s inquest be held anytime someone dies in police custody unless the coroner determines the death was from natural causes or couldn’t have been prevented.
Over the course of the three-day inquest the jury heard testimony from witnesses and saw police video of the night Ermine was taken into custody.