Larkin inspired by meeting on ‘unfounded’ sex assaults
Police chief pledges ‘victim-centric approach’ but notes it’s ‘not a simple fix’
WATERLOO REGION — Waterloo Regional Police investigators will look at a more victim-centred approach when speaking with sexual assault complainants and consider enhanced trauma interviewing skills, says the police chief.
Those are two of the general outcomes the police-created task force on “unfounded” sexual assaults hopes to address, said Chief Bryan Larkin.
“We want a better victim-centric approach — how do we do a better job and build confidence in policing and the judicial system?” he said.
“This is not a simple fix,” Larkin said as he spoke to the media Wednesday after holding his first community meeting on Tuesday into “unfounded” sexual assaults. There were 27 community stakeholders in attendance, he said.
Larkin said it was clear there was some “trepidation” on the part of some members.
“It’s a challenging conversation and it is an intrusive crime,” he said.
Larkin said the roundtable discussion covered issues, including gender bias on sexual assault, how sexual assault is a systemic societal issue and modernizing the use of language and referring to victims as survivors.
He said he was inspired by the meeting and proud of the agencies in the community who want a role to play in increasing reports of sexual assault.
Larkin said police investigators at the meeting also left on a positive note and with a greater awareness.
Future meetings are to be held. The next meeting could be held in late May, Larkin said.
At the next meeting, members will hear about the “Philadelphia model” of examining unfounded sexual assaults, he said.
The model involves giving sexual assault centres access to review unfounded cases. In U.S. cities where the model is used, unfounded rates have been reduced significantly.
Local police and many other policing services across the province are reassessing how they investigate sex assault cases. That follows a Globe and Mail investigation that showed that police dismiss one out of every five sex assault claims as “unfounded,” with no charges laid.
Locally, the unfounded rate was 27 per cent from 2010 to 2014. Other police services of similar size had comparable rates, such as Hamilton and London at 30 per cent, York Region at 31 per cent and Peel Region at 25 per cent.
The provincial government also has asked every Ontario police service to look at their unfounded sex assault cases.
Other representatives at Tuesday’s meeting were from the Crown’s office, local school boards and universities, Conestoga College, victims’ services, Interfaith Grand River, and Family and Children’s Services of Waterloo Region. Police board member Peter Ringrose is the board representative on the task force.