A Globe and Mail report about “unfounded” sexual assault claims has police forces across the country looking into how their departments handle these cases.
The 20-month investigation by the national newspaper revealed that sexual-assault victims are more likely to be believed in some areas of the country than in others.
“When an allegation made to police is unfounded it means that the investigator does not believe a criminal offence occurred or was attempted,” the Globe and Mail report states.
“Once a case is dismissed as unfounded it is no longer considered a valid allegation. It is not reported to Statistics Canada.”
The Globe sent nearly 250 freedom of information requests to 178 police services to obtain confidential unfounded data from 1,119 police jurisdictions across the country.
The Globe received responses from 873 jurisdictions, which represents 92 per cent of the Canadian population.
Overall, the unfounded sexual assault rate in Canada is 19%.
These figures show that 27,740 of the 143,053 allegations – or one in five – were essentially removed from the justice system in Canada.
Chatham-Kent above the national average
The report shows that 187 of 610 sexual assault allegations made to the Chatham-Kent Police Service – or 31% – were cleared as unfounded in the five year span.
This is 12% higher than the national average.
Here is a break-down of the cases from 2010-2014 handled by the Chatham-Kent Police Service:
The report showed that part of rural Chatham-Kent, which is police by the Ontario Provincial Police, found that three of the 14 allegations made from 2010-2014 – or 21% – were cleared as unfounded.
Chatham-Kent Police Service conducting internal review
Chatham-Kent Police Service Chief Gary Conn told Blackburn News that an internal review is being conducted in light of the report by the Globe.
Conn said he believes there is a coding/classification issue, but an audit into their process is being done completed.
He said policies and procedures will be analyzed to see if any improvement or enhancements can be made.
Conn added there may other variables that need to be taken into consideration, which may not have been reflected in the Globe report.
He said Chatham-Kent police officers who investigate sexual assault cases are kept up to date with all their mandated training.
OPP looking into allegations
The Ontario Provincial Police are also looking into the issue internally, as the Globe report shows the OPP’s ‘unfounded rate’ was 34%.
OPP Commissioner, Vince Hawkes said the OPP takes all reports of sexual assault and violence very seriously and uses all resources necessary to conduct complete, thorough and professional investigations.
“We have policies and procedures in place, mandatory training for investigators, and layers of supervision and review for these types of investigations,” Hawkes said in a statement.
“We are strongly committed to continuously seek improvement in order to earn and maintain public’s confidence and trust.”
Hawkes said over the next several weeks, the OPP will review approximately 4,000 sexual assault investigation reports that resulted in a designation as ‘unfounded’ between the years 2010 to 2014.
“We want to ensure that all reports during that period were properly classified when received; that the incidents were appropriately investigated; and, that the correct classification was used when the investigation was completed,” he said.
“It will take some time to review and assess these incidents, and, if warranted, we will expand the review. If it is determined that any sexual assault report was not properly investigated by the OPP, we will re-open that investigation.”
Hawkes added: “We encourage victims to continue to come forward and report crimes and our officers will continue to offer professional support and referrals to resources within the communities we serve. I want all victims of sexual assault or any crime to have confidence in the OPP and our ability to investigate crimes and bring those responsible to justice.”
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