Major recommendations from inquiry report into death of Howard Hyde

December 8, 2010
Charlottetown Guardian

HALIFAX - Major recommendations contained in the Nova Scotia fatality inquiry report into the death of Howard Hyde:

Stun guns should not be applied to people in a state of agitation due to an emotional or psychological disturbance except as a last resort once it has been determined that crisis intervention and de-escalation techniques have not worked.

The province's Justice Department should overhaul the manual it uses for stun gun training to significantly reduce, if not eliminate, the reliance on Taser International resource materials.

Crisis intervention training should be provided to all correctional officers at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility.

Video surveillance cameras should be installed in health care segregation cells to ensure that correctional officers are able to more readily identify that a prisoner is in crisis.

Training should improve for front-line police officers, correctional officers and physicians on a variety of fronts, from note-taking to the preparation of health information transfer forms.

The province's justice minister should conduct an annual review on the implementation of these recommendations.