Halifax Regional Police have closed the books on their investigation into the death of a blind woman more than four years ago and have concluded Holly Bartlett’s death was a tragic accident.

Bartlett was found unconscious under the MacKay Bridge in north-end Halifax on March 27, 2010. She later died in hospital. Police believe she became disoriented after getting out of a taxi and falling off a concrete abutment.

Because of lingering questions about how police handled the original investigation of Bartlett’s death, the Service de police de la Ville de Québec (SPVQ) was asked to conduct a review.

That review was completed and handed to Halifax Regional Police in July.

On Wednesday, Halifax Regional Police Chief Jean-Michel Blais gave his official response to the review and its four key recommendations and 10 suggestions.

The recommendations focused on how police conducted their witness interviews, how they canvassed the neighbourhood, how they kept Bartlett’s family informed and whether they should have consulted a psychic medium.

“There are ways that we could have improved our processes,” Blais said Wednesday in a news conference at police headquarters on Gottingen Street.

“It would not have changed the final result but it nevertheless could have made it a bit easier, perhaps for the family as well as for our own investigators as well.”

Blais said the force has improved its canvassing and interview techniques since the Bartlett case. He said communications have also improved, in large measure because the force’s use of social media has increased dramatically since that time.

Blais said it’s understandable for families in this situation to be upset with police.

“Our shoulders are pretty broad,” he said.

“When we have to deal with situations like this, we have to step back and realize when people lash out at us — and they have on many occasions in the past — it’s not that they’re targeting us specifically, it’s just that that’s the way that they are manifesting their frustration and their grief.”

Blais said because police have already improved techniques in many areas identified by the SPVQ review, his response now is to say “status quo” in dealing with some of their recommendations.

SPVQ investigators had also questioned Halifax Regional Police’s use of information provided by a psychic or medium. Blais has said the information from the psychic was provided by Bartlett’s family. Police looked into the psychic’s findings out of sensitivity to the family but were not able to find any evidence to help the investigation.

Blais reiterated Wednesday that in his experience, he can’t remember using a psychic in an investigation.

“The only time that I could see us employing psychics would be at a family event for entertainment purposes only,” he said.