Although there is still work to be done, Greater Sudbury Police Service said this morning it has already made changes to the way its officers manage sexual assault cases.
This morning's press conference at N'Swakamok Native Friendship Centre provided media with an update on an internal review of how GSPS handles such cases. That review, which is still in process, was spurred by an investigative report from The Globe & Mail that broke last winter.
The “Unfounded” investigative series by reporter Robyn Doolittle found police services across the country dismissed a higher than expected rate of sexual assault as baseless or, as the title of the series suggests, unfounded.
As part of that investigation, Greater Sudbury was found to have dismissed more cases — at 33 per cent, nearly twice the national rate of 19.39 per cent — than the Canadian average.
When the story broke back in February, Police Chief Paul Pedersen vowed the service would conduct a review of all 400 cases that were dismissed.
Besides starting an internal analysis of cases that had been classified "unfounded," GSPS created a Sexual Assault Review Team to review how cases were handled.
As part of that team are representatives from the GSPS and N'Swakamok Native Friendship Centre, Sudbury and Area Victim Services, VOICES for Women and Violence Intervention and Prevention Program (both from Health Sciences North), YWCA Genevra House and the Centre Victoria pour femmes.
During this morning's press conference, the police service laid out how the review was being conducted.
The members took an oath of secrecy and were provided a random sampling of historical sexual assault cases with all identifying information removed.
Thus blinded, the review team could review the process used to investigate each case and identify any trends or common themes that process might involve.
"The (team) confirmed what internal personnel had discovered upon review of the cases," background material provided by GSPS states. "There were internal missteps including fragmented report checks, unconscious biases and the use of language that can be perceived by a victim as accusatory."
GSPS also found what it's calling a "coding error" in the 33 per cent of cases that were classified as unfounded. Once rectified, the unfounded rate dropped to seven per cent, police said. This part of the document provided contained little in the way of explanation of the "coding error."
The police service said it is also working on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Privacy Commissioner of Canada to "provide (the team) with a more robust sampling" of sexual assault cases to review.
Until that MOU is in place, the review team will continue to work through historical cases.
As the review moves forward, GSPS said it has also updated its policies and procedures for investigating allegations of sexual assault. Officers have been sent, and will continue to be sent, for training "to ensure investigations are more victim-focused."
The police service said it is also hoping the provincial and federal governments create a standardized framework for sexual assault investigations to ensure consistency across the country.
This is a deveoping story. Check back with Sudbury.com for more later on today.
