One word can have a major impact and lead to change, as the Ontario Provincial Police has found out.
When a Globe and Mail series called Unfounded came out in February 2017, it was revealed one in five sexual assault allegations in Canada was deemed unfounded.
The OPP then launched an internal review of sexual assault cases it had closed between 2010 and 2016. It revisited 5,322 cases and found 3,463 of them had been cleared correctly, 1,859 could have been cleared using a classification other than “unfounded,” and 12 were reopened, resulting in two convictions.
The word “unfounded” didn’t sit well with the public, as it was often interpreted as meaning an accuser’s claim was false.
“It wasn’t that we weren’t believing the victim. It was a coding (classification) issue,” said OPP Det.-Staff Sgt. Tracey Bednarczyk.
The OPP is now being more specific in its classification of sexual assault, including descriptions such as “not enough evidence to proceed,” Bednarczyk noted, adding the “unfounded” classification was used by police forces across the country.
The Globe series and the subsequent internal review have led the force to create a “regional collaborative review committee” in each of its regions — central, east, northeast, northwest, and west — bringing together members of the OPP and agencies that are focused on victim support.
The 25-member Central Region committee met at OPP Central Region Headquarters in Orillia for the second time Wednesday.
The committee meets monthly and reviews 10 randomly chosen cases. Members watch police video of interviews with accusers and suspects and try to determine if they were done properly and if proper referrals were made.
“We need to get better at what we do, and we recognize that at the OPP,” said Bednarczyk.
Among the objectives of forming the committees are to assure the public the OPP takes all sexual assault claims seriously and to encourage more victims to report the crimes to police.
“I hope that it would increase the confidence and trust (among) the public,” Bednarczyk said, adding more than 95 per cent of sexual assaults are not reported.
The Central Region committee includes representative from various victim services organizations, including those in Muskoka, Caledon, Barrie and Peterborough.
Frances Yarbrough, executive director of the Orillia-based North Simcoe Victim Services, is also on the committee.
“As a community, this is a great opportunity for us to get better at what we do,” she said.
She would like to see the committee’s work result in more training for officers who investigate sexual assault cases.
“I’m hoping there is a process in place for the officers to better support the victims,” she said, “and I hope it leads to more confidence in the public to report.”
The majority of sexual assault victims are younger than 18, noted Tracey Carter, executive director of the Child Advocacy Centre of Simcoe/Muskoka, who is also on the committee.
“Kids are victims of sexual assault as well, so we look to adults to make the report to police or child protection services,” she said. “I’d like to hope … that hesitation to make the call will be addressed.”
Recommendations from the regional collaborative review committees will be forwarded to the OPP’s provincial governance committee.
Victims of sexual assault can visit survivortoolkit.ca to learn more about the reporting process and available resources.
By the numbers
Of the 11,191 reports of sexual assault made to the OPP between 2010 and 2014, 3,819 were cleared as unfounded.
Of those cases, 2,583 were cleared correctly, while 1,236 could potentially have been cleared using another classification.
Nine cases were reopened for investigation.
The OPP internal review found coding issues and clearing options, rather than investigative errors, are potentially responsible for up to 32.4 per cent of the unfounded cases.
Of the 4,497 reports of sexual assault made to the OPP between 2015 and 2016, 1,503 were cleared as unfounded.
Eight hundred-eighty of those cases were cleared correctly, while 623 could potentially have been cleared using another classification.
Three of the cases were reopened.
Source: Ontario Provincial Police
