Weekly News Roundup Apr. 12-19, 2024
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Jury at Sask. in-cell suicide inquest recommends changes to training and police search policies – CBC
April 18, 2024
**Method warning** An inquest jury looking into the suicide death of Jeremy Sabourin, 40, who brought an undetected weapon into a police cell in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, has made recommendations hoping to prevent similar deaths. Recommendations include: a minimum of two metal-detecting wands at each detachment, annual testing and qualification on improved physical and metal-detecting wand searching techniques, and the requirement that all new members of the RCMP and Moose Jaw Police Service become familiar with policies and all members review policies annually.
Winnipeg firefighter’s death is call to action on struggles of first responders, co-workers say – CBC
April 17, 2024
Preston Heinbigner, 40, died by suicide earlier this month. He was a firefighter in Winnipeg and his colleagues are asking that his death be designated as ‘in the line of duty’ and are calling for better mental health supports for first responders. Heinbigner’s colleague Ken Garon said, “For Preston, he’s the type of guy that he cared about everybody so much. Even people he didn’t know, he wanted them to get better… (those calls) just took a toll on him. It’s kind of like a boiling pot of water where he just couldn’t keep that lid on anymore.” Another colleague of Heinbigner, Dalain Gagne, says that the nature of their work has changed over the years. “The opioid epidemic, the drug use, the violence. We call it a war zone. We go on shift and you do call after call after call where you see things [that stay with you]. You go on on scene, the person is either on the cusp of death or just very close and we have to bring them back. To do that multiple, multiple times per shift, it weighs on you.” Tom Bilous, president of the United Firefighters of Winnipeg union, says, “I’m hoping, with this tragedy, we can learn from it. We can put resources out there. We can get people talking, get them in to see people … [and] really look after what’s going on behind our members’ eyes.”
Suicides make up majority of gun deaths, but remain overlooked in gun violence debate – NPR
April 16, 2024
**Method warning** In the US in 2023, over half of firearm deaths were suicides. Paul Nestadt, suicidologist and psychiatrist and professor at Johns Hopkins University, says, “When there’s a mass shooting or homicides, there’s a lot more coverage, and of course, those are very tragic, but suicides kind of kind of slip under the radar a little bit. There’s not as much willingness to talk about them. I think that’s changing. It becomes hard to ignore as the rates climb.”
New York’s Vessel to reopen with steel-mesh safety measures after suicides – Guardian
April 14, 2024
**Method warning** The Vessel, a climbable sculpture installation in New York’s Hudson Yards development is set to reopen in late 2024 after being closed for three years for the installation of steel-mesh safety measures to prevent suicide. Peter DeSalvo Jr, who lost his son to suicide at the Vessel, says, “all the deaths, including that of our son, could have been prevented if they had adequate safeguards.”