THUNDER BAY — An internal review conducted by the Thunder Bay Police Service into the death of 25-year-old Emmanuel Oruitemeka after being in custody at the police headquarters found the officer’s actions or inactions did not constitute negligence or misconduct.
The report, prepared by former Thunder Bay Police Service interim chief Dan Taddeo, who was an inspector in 2014, was presented to the jury in the coroner’s inquest examining the circumstances surrounding the death of Oruitemeka in February 2014.
Oruitemeka died in hospital on Feb. 16, 2014, after becoming unresponsive inside the Thunder Bay Police Service Balmoral Street headquarters four days earlier.
“Could it have been better, absolutely it could have been better,” Taddeo said of the officer’s actions inside the booking and sally port area of the police headquarters. “But at the time, given the totality of the circumstances, I think what happened didn’t amount to any type of negligence.”
Taddeo served as the liaison officer between Thunder Bay police and the Special Investigations Unit. The SIU concluded that there were no grounds to charge the two subject officers with any criminal offences following Oruitemeka’s death.
Taddeo was then tasked with completing an internal report, also known as a Section 11 report, looking into the incident.
Following the internal investigation, Taddeo concluded the officers complied with policy and their actions did not rise to misconduct or negligence.
“The fact of the matter is, in my opinion as well, and I put this in my report, is that from the time Mr. Oruitemeka is in the sally port out of the car to the sternum rub was five minutes and 20 seconds, which elicited the response for medical attention,” Taddeo said.
The jury viewed video surveillance footage from inside the sally port and booking area of the Thunder Bay Police Service headquarters that shows an unresponsive Oruitemeka being unloaded from the police cruiser and placed face down on the floor.
“I appreciate that time is the enemy, but I think we are probably going to be discussing if it should have been this minute or that minute,” Taddeo continued. “But we are not talking about a half hour or an hour. That is the difference in my opinion of if they are negligent in care or haven’t performed their training that to the level they should have.”
Inquest counsel Julian Roy asked Taddeo if he was aware at the time he was preparing the report that there was an additional three minutes and 20 seconds from the time officers determined medical intervention was needed and an ambulance was actually called.
Taddeo said he was not aware of that time lapse but noted the video footage shows the officers attempting to load Oruitemeka into the back of the cruiser to transport him to hospital directly.
“While they have training on basic first-aid and CPR, there are a number of other issues at play that would cause certain delays,” Taddeo said. “I think my view was, that length to reach a point of negligence, I think the five minutes or three minutes to call the ambulance, all of these other aspects factor in in my opinion.”
The other aspects factored in by Taddeo include compassion fatigue and the officer’s concerns that Oruitemeka may have been faking in a possible attempt to escape custody.
“The elapsed time does not constitute misconduct and officers are compliant with policy. Is that your finding?” Roy asked.
“Yes,” Taddeo said, having previously said: “I believe an ambulance should have been called earlier, but the earlier aspect did not amount to a disciplinary issue over a training issue.”
Roy also questioned Taddeo about the attitude of officers inside the police headquarters during the incident, describing it as a casual atmosphere with a lack of seriousness.
Taddeo said he is not sure if he would describe it as casual or exhibiting a lack of seriousness, saying rather it was officers going through their processes in a certain manner, as officers cope or react in different ways.
“I’m not going to make excuses for anybody,” he said. “Policing is a very difficult profession, especially in Thunder Bay. Yes, the video shows that. I agree with you on that. But I view it as a somewhat unfortunate by-product of what we deal with all the time. I don’t think it is accepted behaviour.”
Roy also asked Taddeo if what happened to Oruitemeka could have led to lessons that prevented the death of Don Mamakwa.
Mamakwa, 44, of Kasabonika First Nation, died in a jail cell at the Thunder Bay Police Service headquarters in August 2014 after being arrested for public intoxication.
Taddeo said the two situations were different, particularly the circumstances leading up to the arrest of Oruitemeka and Mamakwa.
A coroner’s inquest into the death of Mamakwa revealed he was assessed by paramedics prior to his arrest and transfer to the police headquarters.
“We deal with so many of these,” Taddeo said. “The clear majority not having the end result of Mr. Oruitemeka or Mr. Mamakwa.”
The forensic pathologist and toxicologist who conducted the post-mortem examination of Oruitemeka began testimony late Wednesday and will continue on Thursday.
