HALIFAX - A Halifax police superintendent told an inquiry looking into the death of Howard Hyde that officers likely put the mentally ill man in jail rather than hospital because his case involved a domestic assault.
The 45-year-old man with a history of schizophrenia died in a provincial jail on Nov. 22, 2007, 30 hours after being Tasered by Halifax police officers following his arrest.
He had been picked up at his spouse's apartment the day before after she called police to complain of a domestic assault.
Hyde was taken to hospital after being Tasered but was brought back to the station, charged and then transferred to a provincial jail.
Supt. Bill Moore, who oversees Halifax police policy on mental health issues, told a fatality inquiry today that officers are taught to treat domestic assaults as serious crimes.
He said they're reluctant to leave an accused in hospital, under the Involuntary Psychiatric Treatment Act, because it could mean they're released without measures taken to protect the victim.
Moore says officers also believe that treatment will be provided to mentally ill people through a court-ordered psychiatric assessment.
