ALGA 2014 Conference Concurrent Session Presentation Toronto Police Investigations of Sexual Assault Audit, Update, and Impact Toronto Auditor General’s Office Jeff Griffiths, CPA, CA, CFE - Auditor General Jane Ying, CMA, CIA, CGAP - Senior Audit Manager

The Beginning …

The Beginning Summer 1986 Fifth reported sexual assault case A serial sexual predator dubbed the “Balcony Rapist” Assailant was arrested and sentenced to 20 years without parole. Recently released

The Lawsuit …

The Lawsuit Launched in 1987 against the Metropolitan Toronto Police The case went to trial in 1997

The Lawsuit

The Lawsuit

The Ruling …

The Ruling Judge ruled in favour of Jane Doe Jane Doe was awarded $220,000 plus interest totalling approximately $500,000

The Ruling Women should have been warned Jane Doe and other women had been used as “bait” Police investigation was “irresponsible and grossly negligent”

The Ruling

The Ruling

The Audit Request …

The Audit Request Council directed: An audit be completed within 6 months A women’s reference group be established to provide advice to the audit process Reference group consisted of representatives from 18 women’s organizations

The Audit …

The Audit

The Audit

The Audit

The Audit

The Audit

The Audit 1999 Initial audit – 57 recommendations 2004 1st Follow-up audit – 25 recommendations 2010 2nd Follow-up audit – 6 outstanding and 3 new recommendations 2010 Report “The Review of the Investigation of Sexual Assaults – A Decade Later” 2013 Annual Follow-up - full implementation

The Impacts – “Template for Real Change”

The Impacts

The Impacts “On paper, the police supported all these recommendations, but reports from the front line pointed to little progress. So I proposed an audit of police practices on sexual assault investigations. The author of the audit was Jeffrey Griffiths, the city’s own financial auditor, who had consulted with almost two dozen groups – including the Toronto Rape Crisis Centre – that work with women who have been sexually assaulted. What an extraordinary document it was.” “This audit and the report that followed it became a template for real change in the handling of sexual assault cases in Toronto.” Excerpts from “My Journey, A MEMOIR, by Olivia Chow, 2014

The Impacts – Changes to Police Investigative Procedures Previous Investigations were not always conducted by investigators trained in sexual assault investigations Current All sexual assault investigations are required to be conducted by accredited sexual assault investigators

The Impacts – Changes to the Sex Crimes Unit Previous Mandate was restricted to assaults where the offender was unknown to the woman Current Use a risk assessment approach to determine cases to be investigated by the Unit

The Impacts – Changes to the Sex Crimes Unit Previous Former Sexual Assault Squad investigated about 4% of all reported cases of sexual assault each year Current Revised mandate resulted in investigating significantly more cases

The Impacts – Changes to Police Training Previous Sexual Assault investigative training was a 5-day combined course with the child abuse investigator training Current Stand alone 10-day training course

The Impacts – Changes to Police Investigative Procedures Previous Women were not regularly informed of the investigation progress Current Officers are required to maintain consistent and regular contact with women

The Impacts – Changes to community warning policy Previous No written protocol on community warning about a sexual predator Current Protocol and procedures to ensure appropriate release of information and language

The Impacts – Changes to ViCLAS submissions Previous Significant delays in submitting reports to the provincial ViCLAS centre Current Nearly 100% of reports were submitted within the required time frame

The Impacts – Changes to Police Investigative Procedures Previous First-response officers could determine a sexual assault complaint as “unfounded” Current Only a sexual assault investigator can classify a complaint as “unfounded”

The Impacts – Changes to the Sex Crimes Unit Previous Hours of operation (8 a.m. to 4 p.m.) did not align with the period of time most assaults took place Current Operating hours expanded to provide coverage from 7 a.m. to midnight

The Impacts – Changes to Police Investigative Procedures Previous Women were interviewed in detail by first-response officers Current First-response officers collect only basic information

The Impacts – Changes to Police Investigative Procedures Previous Women were asked to provide lengthy and detailed statements soon after the assaults Current Provision for delaying the taking of detailed statements

The Impacts – Changes to Police Investigative Procedures Previous Women were not offered a choice with respect to the gender of the investigator conducting the interview Current Where operationally possible, women are provided with an interviewer of their choice

The Impacts – Changes to Police Investigative Procedures Previous Women might need to deal with different officers before and after medical examination at hospital Current Officers are required to remain at the hospital until completion of the medical examination

The Impacts – Changes to Public Information Previous Police web page contained limited information relevant to victims of sexual assaults Current More relevant information was provided on the police web page

The Far Reaching Impacts …

The Far Reaching Impacts

The Far Reaching Impacts

The Far Reaching Impacts

The Far Reaching Impacts - The RCMP Perspective

The Far Reaching Impacts

The Far Reaching Impacts

The Far Reaching Impacts

The Far Reaching Impacts

The Far Reaching Impacts Set a precedent for social audits Benefits to other police services in Canada and the US including the RCMP Value of an independent audit with community input

What We Learned …

What we learned “If the audit was not going to be accountable to us, the stakeholders, the women doing the work, we didn’t care if it went ahead or not. We were prepared to walk out, and we challenged his ability and motives. Griffiths didn’t retreat. He was always clear about the audit and its carriage being his and his alone, but he allowed the process to be as accountable as possible. Which was as good as it was going to get.” Excerpt from “The Story of Jane Doe”

What we learned Working with: The reference group The police Elected officials