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Woman Challenges Police Response To Sexual Assault Claims

Saint John, NB, Canada / 97.3 The Wave
Ben Burnett
Jun 17, 2020 | 8:35 AM
Woman Challenges Police Response To Sexual Assault Claims

The Saint John Police Force headquarters.



A local woman is challenging Saint John’s reporting of sexual assault cases.

Caitlin Grogan reignited a conversation about the number of sexual assault cases deemed ‘unfounded’ by city police with posts to social media in early June.

An investigation by the Globe and Mail in 2017 found that 51 per cent of sexual assault cases in the city were deemed ‘unfounded’.

Police Chief Stephan Drolet issued a statement on Monday, saying that a change in reporting procedure brought the number of ‘unfounded’ cases down to 13 per cent in 2019. Drolet also said the force is looking for other ways to improve its response to accusations of sexual assault.

Grogan, who is a masters student in economics and sociology at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John, says she’d like to see more transparency in the way those numbers are reported.

“Does shuffling those cases from ‘unfounded’ to ‘departmental discretion’ fundamentally change the outcome? I don’t think it does,” Grogan said. “I think there’s more information that needs to be put out by the police and more information that needs to be done.”

The second issue Grogan has with the chief’s release is it doesn’t completely address her concerns with the force’s track record of dealing with domestic violence survivors.

“My complaint initially was how women and survivors are treated when they come forward to the police,” she said.

As a result of her research, Grogan says she’s received messages from many survivors of sexual and domestic violence who painted a bleak picture of their experience dealing with city police.

“I’ve heard from people who came with USB sticks full of evidence for the police, and all these witnesses to contact, and the police never even contacted their witnesses,” said Grogan.

She says she’s heard from friends and survivors that were turned away for not having sufficient evidence or because their assault “wasn’t violent enough” when bringing sexual assault accusations to city police.

As a result of speaking out on this topic, Grogan says the vast majority of messages she’s received have been positive. She’s heard from many survivors and other researchers who have offered her help in searching for more information.

“I’ve had librarians reach out to me to show me how to do certain searches. It’s incredible how many individuals want to make a difference,” she said.

She also says a “small minority” of responses have been hateful, including death and rape threats. A screenshot posted to her Twitter account shows a message from someone who knew her address and the make and model of her vehicle.

Now that the police force has released updated information on the number of ‘unfounded’ sexual assault claims they receive, Grogan is continuing to work for increased transparency.

Grogan has now filed a request for information to see a full breakdown of reporting on all sexual assault cases, not just the number of ‘unfounded’ cases.