Regional police to review the way sexual assault cases are handled
Posted Feb 8, 2017 04:49:49 PM.
Last Updated Feb 8, 2017 05:08:14 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Regional police say they are taking a look at how sexual assault cases are reported and managed in our region.
This comes after a Globe and Mail investigation looked at how police across our country record some sexual assault complaints as unfounded.
The 5-year unfounded sexual assault rate in our region is 27%, compared to the national average at 19%.
“One of my biggest and primary concerns is the stat: four of five victims don’t come forward,” says Regional Police Chief Bryan Larkin. “We should all pause, we should all stop and ask ourselves why? How come? And how do we reduce that number?”
He is calling local agencies that work with victims to a round table discussion about how police can improve the way they handle sexual assault cases.
“I don’t have the answers,” says Larkin. “I think one of the most interesting things is that the data has prompted a dialogue that will allow us to look at how we do business.”
Sara Casselman with the Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region says something needs to be done as the majority of survivors never even report their assaults to police.
“Right now we’re averaging, in terms of police reports, between 500 and 600 sexual assault reports to police,” says Casselman. “We can reasonably assume in our community that the numbers of sexual assaults are about ten times that, based on what we know to be true for police reporting.”
Larkin says he would like to get a round table together as soon as possible.
