Arun Kumar Rajendiran, Darrel Tavernier and Stephen Kelly were found dead in their cell at the Central East Correctional Center from 2014 to 2019.

The three men hanged themselves with blankets on their beds and each of them left a letter, indicating their intention to take their own lives.

The coroner’s jury did not surprisingly reach a suicide sentence on June 13 to explain their deaths after hearing from about 20 witnesses at hearings earlier this month.

Crown counsel briefed the five jurors on prison prevention programs across the province, as well as the procedures, policies and training provided to correctional officers and health care staff.

About thirty proposals

The jury offered 38 recommendations to the Ontario Ministry of the Solicitor General to better prevent suicides in custody and better treat mental health issues.

For example, he suggests that the prison health care review team develop a suicide action plan, including the health needs of the prison population, the quality of care.

The team must also ensure that the guidelines are in accordance with provincial policies and professional standards and that the skills of staff are assessed.

It also recommends that both teams prioritize the evaluation of the challenges represented by the recruitment, training and retention of staff in this establishment and the planning of the physical and mental health care provided there.

On this subject, the jury suggests the ministry call its resources to support this action plan and do not hesitate to call the private sector for any assistance in terms of human resources.

Separated conditions

It also suggests that the department review segregation measures at Lindsay Prison, for example by monitoring the frequency of placing suicide inmates incarcerated and ensuring that this information is available to all prison staff.

It is important, according to the jury, to quickly change the conditions of segregation to ensure that they no longer constitute a form of segregation.

An anonymous report must include the following information: the reasons why each prisoner was confined there in solitary conditions; the length of each separation period; the steps taken to change the conditions of prisoner detention so that they no longer become models of segregation.

Mental health care

As a precaution, the jury proposed that the department change the province’s policy regarding recovery plans for inmates removed from the suicide watch list.

Nurses, doctors, psychiatrists and psychologists should all be educated about such a recovery plan when the ministry policy changes.

All staff must also undergo suicide prevention training. All medical records and all communications within the facility must be securely stored.

The ministry must also prescribe cognitive behavioral therapy or other evidence -based clinical care for at -risk inmates.

The ministry should focus on reviewing the process of obtaining inmate medical histories from relatives when inmates are identified as potentially violent or suicidal.

Prison security

The jury also proposes to review the security of the establishment and fix it for any failure that does not comply with the standards to ensure that the building structures cannot be used as anchor points for fastening ropes, sheets, shoelaces. . .

The department must ensure that security patrols are conducted during prison shift changes and ensure that correctional officers conduct regular cell checks to remove prohibited items, such as clothing and beds.

The jury recommends that the Ontario government adequately fund any measures it proposes and suggests that the provincial coroner’s office conduct timely inquests within one year from the date of a suicide.

The Lindsay Correctional Center, northeast of Toronto, is not its first controversy. A general hunger strike paralyzed the institution in 2020, putting the lives of prisoners in danger.

Another inmate, Soleiman Faqiri, was allegedly beaten to death there in 2016 in circumstances that have not yet been fully explained.