Sexual assault centre says citizen-based review committees are 'good first step' in unfounded cases

The P.E.I. Rape and Sexual Assault Centre says a plan from the RCMP to work with community advocates in reviewing unfounded cases is a good first step.

The RCMP is in the process of setting up committees across the country to review cases that police deem to be unfounded — that a crime did not happen.

Recent reviews on P.E.I. put the province's percentage of unfounded cases at the highest in the country.

A provincial review of sexual assault investigations by all four police agencies on P.E.I. released in 2017 found that nearly 40 per cent of cases were ruled unfounded.

Numbers released by Statistics Canada last year had a lower number  — at just over 24 per cent — but still the highest in the country.

Rachael Crowder, the executive director of the P.E.I. Rape and Sexual Assault Centre, said most academic research shows that the unfounded rate should be between two and eight per cent. 

Expects significant impact

Crowder said the committee-based initiative could make a significant impact.

"I know that in the case of Calgary, for example, they've seen a dramatic decrease in the number of sexual assault complaints that are now considered unfounded," she said.

"So, I would expect that there would be a similar effect in P.E.I."

Crowder is referring to the Philadelphia Model that the Calgary police force adopted in 2018.

"After they instituted the Philadelphia Model, their unfounded case rate dropped [from 10 per cent] to three per cent," she said. 

In 2000, the city of Philadelphia created this model which invited community advocacy groups to look at cases deemed unfounded by police.

Provincial committees are in the works

In an email to CBC News, the RCMP said the committees have not yet been established, but that they are in the works.

"The RCMP is establishing an external review model, similar to the Philadelphia Model, that can be adapted to fit the various municipal, provincial and territorial jurisdictions we police, while also adhering to the Federal Privacy Act."

Crowder said the addition of any peer-based advisory group is good news. 

"They're made up of individuals who understand the biases and the rape myths and … all of those other pieces of societal biases that are prevalent in our narrative around sexual assault survivors," she said.

One of the benefits is, hopefully, that it will help build trust for people in the community, especially survivors of assault.- Sigrid Rolfe, past executive director, P.E.I. Rape and Sexual Assault Centre

Crowder said it's common for survivors to get scared or re-triggered when reporting and will withdraw their complaint. 

"This doesn't mean that the events didn't happen. It just means that the victim has found herself, or feels like she's in an untenable situation because of the response that she's getting from who she's reporting to," she said. 

Crowder said she believes the committees would help to lower unfounded rates in the province.

"I hope that the RCMP provide a kind of leadership on P.E.I. for other police forces. And we'll see the same — I think … dramatic drop in unfounded cases locally as they have in Calgary."

'Help build trust'

Crowder said she's had conversations with RCMP on P.E.I. and believes they will call on organizations like hers to provide their input when the committees are established. 

Our fondest hope is that one day we will work ourselves out of a job and no longer need to have services for survivors of sexualized violence.- Rachael Crowder, executive director, P.E.I. Rape and Sexual Assault Centre

Sigrid Rolfe, the past executive director of the P.E.I. Rape and Sexual Assault Centre, is also on board with the review committees.

"One of the benefits is, hopefully, that it will help build trust for people in the community, especially survivors of assault … that the police are going to investigate their cases respectfully and using best practices," she said. 

3rd-party reporting

Rolfe said another option worth exploring is for victims to report their assault to a third-party organization, which she said is being used in some other areas of Canada.  

"Third-party reporting offers victims of sexual assault a choice about how they want to interact with the criminal justice system," she said.

"Right now, if you are a survivor of an assault you can report it to the police or you can keep quiet. And the third-party reporting is kind of a formalized system that would allow a victim to report details about their assault to a designated organization."

Rolfe said that organization is typically a sexual assault centre or community-based advocacy group that would collect the details and then give them to the police anonymously without identifying who the victim was.  

"What we would hope in the long run is that it would increase the number of reports. It allows victims an opportunity to be heard and to preserve some of the details of the assault in case she or he later wanted to make a formal report to police," she said.

"It also gives police some information about what's happening in the community."

In an email to CBC RCMP said it will provide more information on these committees in the coming months as they begin to be established across Canada.

"I think we just have to continue doing this work societally as well," Crowder said.

"Our fondest hope is that one day we will work ourselves out of a job and no longer need to have services for survivors of sexualized violence. But unfortunately that future is not in near view as of yet."

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