An external review of Hamilton’s dismissed sexual assault cases showed that 70% were improperly handled by police.
Some of the reasons included that investigators were relying on victim blaming and predetermining outcomes without a full investigation.
Changes like education and training in trauma and rape culture are already being implemented within Hamilton police and this review will be ongoing. A team will meet 4 times a year to look through cases to keep on top of this.
Over an 18 month investigation, Hamilton police looked at 758 dismissed cases and found 75% were cleared correctly. But an external review that dove deeper into only 63 investigations found almost the exact opposite result, that 70% were not labelled properly.
Lenore Lukasic-Foss of the sexual assault centre was part of the 6 member external review team. The group met at Hamilton police headquarters and had access to 911 calls, case files and watched hours of video interviews between police and the victims. Lukasik-Foss says it was clear some officers didn’t understand sexual violence and how trauma effects memory.
The review was ordered by the police board after a Globe and Mail article last year found 1 in 5 sexual assault claims across the country were dismissed by police. Their stats showed that the national average of “unfounded cases” was 19%, the provincial 25% but Hamilton’s was higher than that with 30% of the cases being unfounded.
Hamilton police are already actively training the entire service to better handle these investigations, but a big issue within the sex assault unit itself is being under staffed, with just 7 detectives assigned and one detective sergeant.
So what happens next for the victims, the cases that were dismissed but shouldn’t have been.
“If you have reported a sexual assault to our police service and it was closed and unfounded, they can contact Det. Dave Dunbar and we will look at that case to do a review to make sure it was handled appropriately.” Inspector David Hennick, Hamilton police.
Police consulted with the external group to decide on the best course of contacting victims. It was determined that the best way to move forward without re-victimizing anyone would be to open a line of communication so victims can ask to reopen a case if they choose to do so.
On Thursday Hamilton police will make a request to the police services board for 2 more detective constables for the sex assault unit.
