A pilot project has been launched at one New Brunswick police force with a goal of improving sexual violence investigations.
The Kennebecasis Regional Police Force has a review team looking at all sexual violence files which are not referred for charges.
The seven-person team is made up of advocates from community-based organizations in the area who deal with sexual violence.
Jennifer Richard, director of strategic development with Sexual Violence New Brunswick, a partner in the program, said the idea is based off a model created by front-line advocates in Ontario.
“It’s similar to but not exactly the same as the ‘Philadelphia Model,’ which is about using people with front-line expertise and subject matter expertise around sexual violence to do reviews of police files of sexual assault,” said Richard.
Richard first heard about the review model five years ago and has been looking to bring it to the province. She met with police Chief Wayne Gallant, who wanted to pilot the model for New Brunswick.
The review team looked at its first cases in October and Richard said the process went really well.
“It was good with the KV police force,” she said. “They were really open to the process, they were really open to the recommendations that we had, and I’m sure it’ll continue to move forward in the future.”
‘Unfounded’ Sexual Assault Investigation
A 20-month long investigation by The Globe and Mail published in 2017 found New Brunswick police forces labelled sexual assault cases as “unfounded” 32 per cent of the time, well above the national average of 19 per cent.
The investigation prompted violence against women experts to develop a “Violence Against Women Advocate Case Review” process for sexual assault investigations.
Advocates worked with Ontario police services to develop a Sexual Assault Investigations best practises framework which was released last December. The framework has been endorsed by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police.
Richard said the review team plans to meet every quarter to take a second look at cases from the past three months. In some jurisdictions, reviews like this have led to the reopening of cases and charges being laid, she said.
“We’ve seen over time that it does eventually lead to stronger investigations, some more charges, to a better understanding, a better collaboration between those community partners,” she said.
Hopes To Expand Program
Insp. Mary Henderson with the Kennebecasis Regional Police Force said police will work with the review team to ensure gaps are filled in investigations.
Henderson said front-line human service providers who are familiar with victims of sexual violence can provide a different lens on the cases.
“What we’re doing is we’re looking at things from a different lens, trying to see how we can fill gaps or if there’s any sort of barriers that the police are creating inadvertently to make the outcomes of these cases be the best they can be,” said Henderson.
Richard hopes to eventually roll out the program to all municipal police forces in New Brunswick.
