Holding cells at Sarnia’s police station are among only a handful of similar locations in North America equipped with biometric health monitoring radar designed to sound an alarm if a prisoner is in medical distress
Holding cells at Sarnia’s police station are among only a handful of similar locations in North America equipped with biometric health monitoring radar designed to sound an alarm if a prisoner is in medical distress.
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The system has been in place for about a week in each of the seven holding cells at the police headquarters on Christina Street, said Insp. Michael Van Sickle.
Chief Derek Davis said in a news release it’s not uncommon for drugs to be concealed by individuals or consumed prior to an arrest.
“The effects of these substances can quickly become life-threatening if not detected early and intervening action is taken,” he said. “This technology provides an additional layer of monitoring that enhances the safety of people in our custody.”
At the same time, Davis said, “it also represents an important investment in protecting the well-being of our officers, who are responsible for prisoner care in these challenging times.”
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The rise in the illegal use of the drug fentanyl raised concerns for the police department, Van Sickle said.
Previously, if someone was suffering a medical emergency while in custody “it was physically obvious” from their movement, he said.
“But how fentanyl works is you just look like you’re sleeping, and you don’t move,” he said. “Nothing changes except your respiratory rate and your heart rate slows down to such a point that it stops. So, there’s nothing to trigger us to go, ‘oh my gosh, that person is in distress.’”
Van Sickle said the biometric health monitoring from the company GT Global Services Inc., uses radar “to sense even the smallest movement, all the way to a heartbeat or the inflation of lungs.”
The technology doesn’t require a monitoring device to be physically connected to prisoners, he said.
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“It’s in the cell itself,” Van Sickle said.
“We’re alerted if the vital signs vary outside the expected range. . . or if there are no vital signs.”
The system doesn’t include any “personal identifiers” to project the privacy of individuals in custody, the police service said.
The new technology “does not take away from the necessity of regular in-person checks,” Van Sickle said. Those will continue.
“It is adding an additional level of security and protection for the prisoner and the employees,” he said.
Prisoner monitoring has been evolving in recent years at the station where the cells are in the basement and primarily monitored by cameras and periodic in-person checks, Van Sickle said.
“We identified that as a risk to the organization as well as officers and to the prisoners because they are a whole set of stairs away through locked doors,” he said. “It just wasn’t sustainable.”
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Police services in Regina and Barrie have announced they’re also using the radar technology but, overall, only a handful of custodial locations in North American currently have it in place, Van Sickle said.
It cost about $25,000 to install the equipment at the Sarnia station, plus there will be ongoing subscription costs for the software, he said.
“The objective here is to prevent anyone from suffering a medical emergency and not getting care right away,” Van Sickle said.
Police also have made changes to the cell area in recent years, including improving lighting and camera systems, as well as installing plexiglass between bars to remove ligature points, he said.
More than a year ago, the police service also added a civilian staff position to monitor prisoners and ensure their wellbeing, Van Sickle said.
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