Major crime unit investigating inmate's death at provincial jail in Shediac

The coroner and the RCMP's major crime unit areinvestigating the "sudden death" of a Moncton manwho was in custody ofthe Southeast Regional Correctional Centre in Shediac.

Derek James Whalen, 37, was in jail on remand while he was awaiting a court appearance, according to the Department of Public Safety.

Whalen was scheduled for a bail hearing in Moncton provincial court on Wednesday, according to the court docket. He faceda single charge of possessing "a firearm, a cross-bow, a prohibited weapon, a restricted weapon, a prohibited device, any ammunition, any prohibited ammunition or an explosive substance" while being under an order not to do so, the docket shows.

Police were called to the jail around 11:25 p.m. on Sunday after receiving "areport of an inmate beingunresponsive," RCMP spokesperson Const. Hans Ouellette said.

According to the Department of Public Safety, Whalen was transported to the Moncton Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy is planned to confirm his cause of death, Ouellette said.

Officials have said little else about what happened inside the jail that night, including why the major crime unit is investigating.

Ouellette would not comment on whether the unit was investigating Whalen's death as a homicide.

"They're investigating due to the circumstances around the man's death," Ouellette said, without elaborating on those circumstances.

No one from the Department of Public Safety was made available for an interview about Whalen's death.

"This case remains under investigation therefore the department is not atlibertyto share any further details of the incident," department spokesperson Coreen Enos wrote in an emailed statement.

Few details in news release

For many years, the public had no way of knowing whether someone had died in custody of one of New Brunswick's provincial jails.

That changed in 2016, when the department changed its policy to issue a news release when someone dies in the custody ofa jail.

Typically, the news release includes details on what happened to the inmate.

In February 2018, the news release detailed how a 49-year-old man at the Southeast Regional Correctional Centre was found unresponsive in his celland efforts were made to revive him.

A few months later, a news release announcing the death of Michael Matchettdescribed how Matchett, who was also incarcerated at the Southeast Regional Correctional Centre, was assaulted by another inmate.

But there are few details in the news release about Whalen's death, such as how he became unresponsive.

New policy mandates inquests

A new policy, which was quietly adopted by the chief coroner's office last year,could make it easier for the public to learn from the deaths of inmates in custody.

A coroner's inquest is now mandatory in all cases where people die from unnatural causes while in custody.That includes people in custody ofjails, penitentiaries or any other "place of secure custody or place of temporary detention."

• Secret New Brunswick jail deaths prompt calls for public review

The directive,dated Nov. 5, 2019, and signed by former chief coroner Gregory Forestell, notes that inquests must be directed by the minister when someone has been charged with a criminal offence in relation to the death. That inquest can then only be held after the end of the criminal proceedings, including appeals.

The new policy is a positive shift in the eyes of ombud Charles Murray, who called for such mandatory inquests back in 2016.

"The more we know about things, the better we're able to address and understand them," Murray said.

Murray said there is more pressure across jurisdictionsto hold automatic reviews whenever someone dies in custody or care of the government.

Those reviews can help increase public confidencebut also help learn what to do better in the future, the ombud said.

But it hasn't always been this way.

"Because these incidents are such an obvious adverse result, there is a temptation of the organization partly to protect its employees, partly to protect its reputation, to want to speak about it and be clear about it as little as possible," Murray said.

"The change to have a more mature organization that recognizes the opportunity here to improve and also to give the public clarity and confidence, including members of the family for whom this is a personal and very deep-felt tragedy, that's a sign of maturity in those organizations. That's a positive step."

Unclear whether Whalen's death will receive inquest

It's not yet clear whether Whalen's death fits into the criteria of the new, automatic inquest policy. When asked about this, Enos said the ongoing investigations will determine Whalen's cause of death.

"If this death is determined to be of a manner other than natural causes, then the policy of the chief coroner's office is to conduct an inquest in all unnatural deaths in custody," Enos wrote in an email.

After the RCMP and the coroner finish their investigations into Whalen's death, Murray said the ombud's office would look at"whether or not there are lessons from this tragedy which could help improve the overall [correctional] system."

"We would wait for those other organizations to completely finish their work and see their conclusions, and then see if this formed part of a pattern with other incidents and spoke to a need for other changes in the system," Murray said.