Quebec City police failed to act quickly enough on a court order to hospitalize a man during a psychotic episode, a delay that may have cost his neighbour, 65-year-old Jacques Côté, his life, according to a report by coroner Géhane Kamel.
Côté was fatally stabbed on the street after trying to calm 30-year-old Kim Lebel, who was experiencing an episode of schizoaffective disorder in Lac-Saint-Charles, Que., on April 6, 2022.
That day, the Service de police de la Ville de Québec (SPVQ) had a court-ordered committal signed by a judge in hand. It was requested by Lebel’s mother and it would have allowed them to force Lebel to be hospitalized.
“Considering the danger criterion required to obtain a temporary committal from a Quebec Court judge, I find it difficult to understand why these situations aren’t treated as urgent by the SPVQ,” the report, released Thursday, says.
In her report, Kamel says there was a long delay between the call to the SPVQ and the arrival of officers.
“Shouldn’t the extraordinary use of this type of order call for an urgent response and therefore a priority 1 status? If the committal order had been executed more quickly, the outcome might have been different,” the coroner wrote.
At the time, the order’s execution was classified as priority 3.
She also points to the limitations of Quebec’s P-38 law, which governs police intervention when dealing with a person in distress. The individual’s mental state must pose a serious and immediate danger to themselves or others.
“Police, therefore, unfortunately, have to wait for the danger to materialize before intervening, despite the well-founded fears of loved ones,” the coroner concludes.
Similar coroner reports cited
Kamel’s report says three coroner’s investigations in less than two years have highlighted difficulties in caring for individuals with mental health issues.
“The same findings were raised in each case,” she wrote. “When Mr. Lebel’s parents decided to turn to the police and then to the courts, they did so with only one goal: to get help.”
She asks the question: “How many more Jacques Côtés will have to die before we realize we’ve reached a turning point for action?”
Kamel makes recommendations to the Ministry of Health, the SPVQ and the CIUSSS de la Capitale-Nationale, but also calls on the public and those who interact with people facing mental health challenges.
“The whole community has a role to play. We can’t simply turn a blind eye to what’s happening around us, telling ourselves it’s none of our business or that it’s up to institutions to take charge,” the report says.
“Each of us needs to care about that other person, who is sometimes a colleague, a friend or even a neighbour.”
The coroner urges judicial reform in mental health care that would help loved ones contribute.
“Loved ones want to fulfil their role as caregivers, but they also want to have the tools to be heard when expressing their fears and concerns,” she wrote.
“Reforms must be supported by close collaboration between our decision-makers, health professionals, the justice system, families, users and community organizations to offer a more supportive, humane and effective system for everyone.”
Lebel’s parents accused police of inaction
In June 2023, Lebel was declared not criminally responsible in Côté’s death. Lebel suffered from mental illness most of his life, the court was told, in a report written by psychiatrist Dr. Sylvain Faucher.
In that 2023 report, Faucher said Lebel was going through a psychotic episode and was unable to understand the nature of his actions.
Soon after the incident in 2022, Lucie Drouin and Daniel Lebel, Kim Lebel’s parents, told a news conference they had repeatedly called police since April 4 to seek help for their son who was experiencing a mental health crisis at the time.
Police spent 20 minutes with Lebel two days before the incident before deciding they didn’t need to intervene, despite his parents’ insistence they were afraid of what their son might do, Drouin said.
“We told them that we had needed their help since Monday. They didn’t take us seriously,” Drouin said at the time.
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