Task Force reviews how sexual assaults are handled in Waterloo Region
Posted Apr 26, 2017 04:54:49 PM.
Last Updated Apr 26, 2017 05:00:44 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Over two dozen community leaders and stakeholders are working together to evaluate how sexual assault cases are handled in Waterloo Region.
Regional Police Chief Brian Larkin says the ‘Sexual Assault Task Force’ held their first meeting on Tuesday.
“Overall, we believe the meeting was a tremendous success. I’ve always said that this initiative is not about pointing fingers– but it’s about the outcome. One of the positive themes that came out of this meeting was realizing that we have to clearly understand what the challenges were before, and then we can start to develop solutions and look at an enhanced victim-centric approach for the future.”
The new Task Force was formed by Regional Police after a concerning report by the Globe and Mail showed that our local unfounded sexual assault rate is 27 per cent, compared to the national average of 19 per cent.
Larkin says the Task Force is now working together to review how these assaults are currently managed by police, and analyze the many factors which may prevent a victim from coming forward.
“The one thing that we all realized at our first meeting is that this is not a simple fix. These are systemic, societal issues– and they’re complex. We are looking at how police officers can change our approach, what our community can do to provide better outreach, and how we can all better understand not only these victims, but also the offenders,” said Larkin. “Our final vision is to see a better system that is enhanced, is victim-centric, and has increased reporting.”
Larkin adds that they’re still not sure when the Task Force will meet again, but are hoping to have a final report and strategy ready by 2018.
“Our goal is to present a model to the community that is enhanced and better for everyone. We believe there’s a lot of good things that we’re doing now, but we also believe that we can always seek improvement. We want this to move forward and help make change, and are aiming to have this completed by next year so we can start tracking crime differently.”
