Prince Albert police partner with Sask. Marshals to install biometric health sensors in cells
CBC
The Prince Albert Police Service will install health monitoring technology in some of its detention cells to alert staff if someone goes into medical distress.
Devices will be mounted on the ceiling cells and use radar to monitor heart rate, elevated temperature and respiratory concerns of someone inside the cell.
"We're hearing from our partner agencies and Estevan and Regina, who have implemented the software and have already reported back that it saved lives," Patrick Nogier, Prince Albert's police chief, said in an interview Tuesday.
The technology is to be installed in 12 of the 30 jail cells at the Prince Albert police station by the end of the year. Nogier said that it will help both the detainees and the officers.
He said the system activates only when the cell is occupied and alerts officers if someone is going into medical distress. It's attached to the ceiling and does not touch the inmate.
The police chief said the sensors can catch medical emergencies that could otherwise go unnoticed, like an overdose, or when someone has hidden drugs inside their body and it goes wrong.
"We've had circumstances where people are trying to hide it with hopes of recovering it at a later date, and the packaging breaks and then causes severe medical implications," he said.
Nogier said early intervention helps officers make better decisions and provide the person with medical attention if needed.
The cost to install the technology in the 12 cells is $45,000 to $50,000, to be provided by the Saskatchewan Marshals Service (SMS). Prince Albert police will cover the annual subscription cost of around $14,000 to $16,000.
SMS is sharing the cost in return for using the city's jail cells for arrests they make in the area.
"[Prince Albert police] wouldn't be billing us back now if we use their facilities. So it's kind of a break-even point for us, and it would be a benefit for clients that are in custody to make sure that they're in a safer location," Richard Lowen, deputy chief of enforcement for the Saskatchewan Marshals Service, said in an interview Wednesday.
Lowen was working with the Estevan Police Service when the same technology was installed there.
"We've seen it. It's demonstrated that it's already saved lives, so we knew it's a good system," he said.
In 2021, three people died in Prince Albert Police Service custody within 30 days.
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