Hamilton police will reopen 'unfounded' sexual assault cases if the victims ask

Hamilton police are willing to reopen historic sexual assault cases from 2010 to present day in light of a new community review showing investigators reached inaccurate conclusions in 70 per cent of "unfounded" cases.

In welcoming the move, announced by the service Thursday, police board meeting Madeleine Levy said it distressed her to think perpetrators might have walked free and attacked someone else.

She apologized at the board's meeting Thursday to any of the people involved in the false unfounded cases.

"I apologize," she said. "I am truly sorry the system failed you."

Contact police 

Chief Eric Girt says any victims who believe investigators reached an improper conclusion in their cases can contact Det. Sgt. Dave Dunbar.

Police won't contact them, he said. Victims may be in different stages of healing and not want the case to be reopened.

"We would not reopen them wholesale without consulting the victims," he said at the board meeting. 

"We will leave it open to anyone who does want (the investigation reopened) to certainly contact police."

But Girt said the service is worried about restoring public trust.

The move comes after an extensive 18-month review of cases deemed to be "unfounded." 

Two reviews; different conclusions

Police did an internal review of about 700 files from 2010 to 2014, which found 75.1 per cent of unfounded cases were properly cleared.

More pointed, however, was a review by a new sexual assault community review team (SACRT), which did a deeper dive into some of the cases. That included watching hours of video interviews. 

That review found 70 per cent of unfounded cases should not have been ruled as such. Reasons included investigators relying on rape myths, giving greater weight to the suspect's story, and using interrogation tactics on victims, among other elements.

The SACRT will continue to meet four times per year now to review a random sampling of unfounded cases. That team includes people who work in victims services and at the Sexual Assault Centre of Hamilton and Area.

Record number of sex assault cases this year

The report also included recommendations such as a new program where victim services workers meet with victims first. That six-month pilot project began in September. It also recommended training for officers to understand neurological responses to sexual assault, and that's been implemented.

It also recommends adding two more officers to the overworked seven-member sexual assault unit. That unit will have 575 cases by year's end, said Insp. Dave Hennick. That's a record number.

The review came after a Globe and Mail series published in 2017 showing Hamilton's rate of unfounded cases was higher than the national average. Hamilton's rate was 30 per cent compared to 19 per cent across Canada.

While several police forces quickly announced they would do internal reviews in response to the story, Hamilton police said its own internal numbers were different and a better gauge of how the service was doing.

One critic called the response an attempt to create a "PR smokescreen."

The matter made it to the police services board, a week later  which ordered a review. At the time, Mayor Fred Eisenberger called it a" significant" issue that set off "alarm bells."

Many board members at Thursday's meeting praised the service for the review.

"You didn't try to cover it up," said Coun. Lloyd Ferguson. You didn't try to say 'nope, we're doing things fine.' You recognized that things have to change and you came back with some excellent recommendations."

Lenore Lukasik-Foss, who was part of the community review, previously told CBC that at times, what she saw in the files and videos made her angry.

"All of us were at some point," she said. "All of the folks on the team had moments where it was really difficult to understand what had happened to this woman, this victim."