Independent oversight of sexual assault cases expanding to more N.B. police forces

A pilot program in the Kennebecasis Regional Police Force that provides independent oversight of sexual assault cases is coming to more New Brunswick police forces.

Since it started in the fall of 2021, the Kennebecasis oversight team, made up of advocates against sexual violence such as the Saint John Sexual Assault Response Team, has been able to recommend cases that didn't result in charges be resubmitted to the Crown prosecutor.

The review team also reviews cases categorized as unfounded, meaning police didn't believe a crime had occurred. The team has recommended the Kennebecasis police officers undergo trauma-informed training to improve how they gather information in sexual assault examinations.

The program is already underway in another community and set to be implemented in a third by April, said Jenn Richard, Sexual Violence New Brunswick's director of strategic development, who helped the Kennebecasis force kickstart the program in 2020.

She would not name the other two police forces.

Richard is a member of a committee struck by the provincial government in 2017 to make recommendations about how New Brunswick's police forces can improve their response to sexual crime cases. 

After a 2017 Globe and Mail investigation found New Brunswick had the highest percentage of unfounded cases in the country, the province performed an audit of sex crime investigations from 2010 to 2014. 

The audit revealed serious problems with how police in New Brunswick investigated sex crimes. They included closing cases without interviewing key witnesses and giving up too quickly on investigating allegations.

Richard couldn't confirm whether expanding the oversight program to each police force is one of the committee's recommendations based on the 2017 audit, saying that group's proposals haven't been made public yet.

"They're pretty much finalized," she said. "I don't think there should be too much more of a delay."

CBC News has asked the Department of Justice and Public Safety when the recommendations will be made public.

Richard said the plan is to implement the oversight program in another three forces in the next fiscal year, and in  the last three in the fiscal year ending in 2024. This would mean taking the oversight program to the nine New Brunswick forces in areas that don't get their policing from the RCMP.

"We've only just started, and so our hope is that once we get the ball rolling, more and more police forces will see the benefits of that and it will continue to spread throughout the province," Richard said.

The Women's Equality Branch, part of the provincial government, confirmed more police forces will participate in the program, and details about that, as well as funding, will be announced soon.

The review program is already present in other provinces, including Ontario and Alberta. It's based on work done by Sunny Mariner, who developed the model through her work at the Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre in 2017.

Richard said the model can result in policy and operational changes, as well as cases being reopened and charges laid.

'I really think it's working'

Inspector Mary Henderson is the liaison between the oversight team and the Kennebecasis police force. 

The team members have access to files, notes, interviews, and videos, and they look for any gaps in the investigation process, including missing information or areas where stereotypes or biases about sexual violence and survivors could have influenced the investigation.

After the team members independently review the cases each quarter — Henderson sets them up, then steps out of the room — the team reports back to her. Different actions can be taken from there, including charges being laid, Henderson confirmed.

Recently, a case came to light after the Crown declined to pursue a prosecution. The case was re-examined by the oversight team.

"We've re-looked at that, and we've actually just resubmitted that for charge approval again to the Crown prosecutor," she said, adding the goal is to see whether by doing new interviews and using new techniques to gather information, a different outcome might be possible. 

Based on the team's recommendations, Kennebecasis regional police are also working with Dr. Mary Ann Campbell in the University of New Brunswick's psychology department to develop training for the force's team of about 40 frontline officers. 

By the fall, the force wants all officers to have the training, which is to help them make survivors feel heard, understood, and respected throughout an investigation, by this fall.

Henderson said she hopes the presence of the oversight team, whose members are on the front lines of responding to sexual violence, will help survivors feel more encouraged to interact with police.

Henderson said that at the end of 2021, the oversight committee had received three more cases for review than it would normally expect, although she couldn't say if this increase was due to the existence of the committee.

"If there's a consistency to how we approach these victims, and if we make them feel respected, heard, and that they think that the process is really well conformed to what their needs are, then they're more likely to continue with the process," she said.

"I really think it's working, and I think it will provide some better outcomes for these victims."