Unfounded sexual assault cases in Sask. getting a second look from police

Police in Saskatoon and Regina will be reviewing sexual assault cases over multiple years which were initially labelled as unfounded. 

The Saskatoon Police Service will review complaints between 2010 and 2016. The Regina Police Service will review complaints in 2015 and 2016, with the potential for more complaints dependent on the findings of the review. 

There were 278 cases between 2010 and 2016 in Saskatoon. The number of complaints in Regina is about 52 for the last two years, said a spokesperson.

The pending reviews come after a report in the Globe and Mail which found 19 per cent of complaints in Canada were deemed unfounded between 2010 and 2014.

Saskatchewan's average was in line with the national average, at 19 per cent.

A spokesperson with the RCMP had earlier told CBC they use the Statistics Canada definition of unfounded, meaning an incident where — after a police investigation — no violation or attempted violation of the law was deteremined to have taken place.