SIRT notified after woman dies in Wilkie RCMP custody

Saskatchewan’s Serious Incident Response Team has been notified after a woman died while in RCMP custody.

According to the RCMP, Mounties were dispatched to a home in Wilkie at around 7:45 p.m. on Tuesday to conduct a wellness check on a woman. The woman wasn’t at the home when police arrived, so officers began searching for her with patrols in the area.

At around 9:30 p.m., the Mounties got a report of a 911 hang-up that came from a different home in the community.

“Officers immediately responded and located the female, whom they determined required medical care,” the RCMP said in a statement. “She was taken into custody under the Mental Health Act.”

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Paramedics were called to bring the woman to a hospital, the RCMP said, but after they picked her up, she went into what police described as “medical distress,” and was pronounced dead at the hospital.

The RCMP said the death has been reported to the Serious Incident Response Team, as required by law whenever an in-custody death occurs.

That team – which is an independent and led by civilians – will investigate the circumstances of the woman’s death, the RCMP said, as well as her interactions with police.

“The Saskatchewan RCMP is disclosing this as part of our ongoing commitment to transparency,” the Mounties added.

The woman’s family has also been notified of the death, the RCMP added.