Basran says he spoke too soon on probe
Kelowna mayor apologizes, revises comments on RCMP review of sex assault cases
The Kelowna RCMP dismissed 40% of sexual assault cases as unfounded in 2017 and 2018, according to Statistics Canada.
That means of the 82 sexual assaults reported to Kelowna RCMP in 2018, the police dismissed 30 of them because they believed they did not occur.
The provincial average of sexual assault reports that are determined by police to be false or baseless is 15%, and the national average is 14%.
Some women’s groups say only 2% of sexual assault claims are made up.
Statistics Canada recently started to release such figures after a decade of not doing so. The hiatus was used to standardize the definition of unfounded. Unfounded is basically any sexual assault allegation that police, after conducting an investigation, believe did not occur.
As such, unfounded could be a complete fabrication of a sexual assault or someone reporting consensual sex as an assault after regretting their initial decision.
Shortly after the Statistics Canada figures were released, the Kelowna RCMP announced a review to find out how the agency came up with the 40% unfounded number.
“That review is still underway,” said Cpl. Meghan Foster of the Kelowna RCMP.
“Investigations vary case by case, and the volume of information that needs to be reviewed is not the same for every file. So, when it will be done, I cannot give you a time. When we have more information, we will make it known at that time.”
The RCMP is looking at each sexual assault claim file to make sure it was fully investigated and properly categorized as founded or unfounded.
Initially, Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran said that despite the high percentage of unfounded cases, he believed the RCMP investigated each case thoroughly and made the right determinations.
On Friday, the mayor issued another statement to explain further.
“I want to address my earlier comments about the number of reports of sexual assault deemed to be unfounded at the Kelowna RCMP detachment,” said Basran.
“I am sorry and offer my sincere apology to anyone offended or hurt by my initial reaction to this news. The number of local sex assault complaints deemed to be unfounded is deeply concerning, and I know the local detachment is taking this matter seriously. In retrospect, I should have waited for the results of the investigation (review) into this matter before expressing my opinion.”
As the RCMP has already stated, there is no timetable or deadline for the review and it doesn’t know when the results will be made public.
“While the RCMP operates independently of the City of Kelowna, it is the city’s responsibility to ensure matters of concern to our citizens are being addressed,” said Basran.
“I have directed (city) staff to stay in close contact with the RCMP on this issue until a review is concluded. I support what the Kelowna RCMP has done in response to this new information from Statistics Canada, starting with an internal review and a subsequent request to have the RCMP’s Sexual Assault Review Team at national headquarters review the 2018 and 2019 files.”
That review will determine what the RCMP does next.
“It’s my understanding the RCMP will report out once the investigation is complete, and I’ll wait until that happens before commenting further,” said Basran.