'There's work to be done': Police Chief Bryan Larkin responds to bad numbers on women's safety

Waterloo Regional Police Service Chief Bryan Larkin has weighed in on a report that has ranked the area of Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge as the worst for women's safety out of 26 metro areas across Canada. He says the numbers can be seen in two ways — and one is positive.

He said one way to view the report is that women aren't and don't feel safe.

"Safety's a significant piece in people's lives. It's also an important piece in the vibrancy of our community," he said in an interview with CBC Kitchener-Waterloo Thursday. "Clearly, it's serious."

On the other hand, Larkin said, at least one in five victims of sexual assault and intimate partner violence don't report the crimes to police. Research has pointed to stigma, fear and concerns about whether police or the judicial system will act appropriately, he said.

"High reporting rates, for me, can also be viewed as a positive indicator that our community has trust — confidence in the judicial system, in our social agency partners and of course, also, the police service," he said.

"I think the report gives us an opportunity to pause and say, 'OK. What are we doing about this and what do we action and what's important to us?' and I think that gender-based violence in today's society should be unacceptable at any time, and there's work to be done."

Last for safety among 26 areas

The annual report released by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives on Tuesday looked specifically at the rates of sexual assault and intimate partner violence reported to the police.

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The rates in the metro area made up by Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge (KWC) "were among the highest among large cities while the rate of criminal harassment targeting women was the highest," the report said.

"Overall, KWC placed 26th — or last — as a safe place for women to live in Canada."

Earlier this month, sexual assault centre executive director Sara Casselman told CBC Kitchener-Waterloo the number of people seeking counselling has jumped dramatically in the last four years.

"Four years ago, if we had 40 or 50 people on our waiting list, we would have said that we were in a crisis situation," she said, noting there are close to 200 people on the waitlist now.

Jenna Mayne is the communications officer for Women's Crisis Services of Waterloo Region, which runs shelters and programs for abused women and children. They've seen an increase in people seeking help, with just over 1,300 people who used outreach and shelter services in 2018 and they received 2,500 calls for help.

"Violence against women definitely a big problem in the region," she said in an interview Thursday.

"We need to be talking about it. We need to be caring about it and these reports are a good start to get people realizing there is a problem and we need to tackle it."

Mayne says she agrees with Larkin that seeing more women reporting this violence to police is a good sign.

"The more reporting, the more people we know about and we're able to provide help to," she said. "Violence against women is a really serious problem here, but it is something that we can tackle as a community ... there is support in the region."

Campaigns and proactive police work

Larkin says the service continually works with local groups such as Carizon Family and Community Services, Women's Crisis Services of Waterloo Region, Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo Region and the YWCA in Cambridge.

He pointed to campaignsto address gender-based violence in Waterloo Region, including a soon-to-be launched She Is Your Neighbour project by Women's Crisis Services.

Larkin says he also supports a funding increase for the sexual assault support centre.

"They need funding. They're under significant pressure," he said.

But Larkin says he also wants to see how the service can work with these stakeholders to move to a proactive approach to combating gender violence. He says there may be an opportunity to share data to help officers approach situations differently.

"I firmly believe that we have to switch from being strictly on the reactionary mode," he said.

"We should have solid investigative approaches, and we should have the best training and trauma based approaches. All of those things we're doing, but I also think we need to start moving the pendulum to [be] proactive-based."

Listen | In this web exclusive, Chief Larkin was asked if he thinks the results of the study have been blown out of proportion:

'Do we make mistakes? Absolutely'

Documents from courts and the Special Investigations Unit show the service has received 17 sexual assault complaints against officers since 2017.

Larkin was asked if he thought these cases meant officers were setting a bad example to the community when it comes to gender-based violence.

"The police service takes these matters very seriously. They will not be tolerated, and we will be investigating any allegation," he said. "It's unacceptable and allegations will be investigated."

Larkin says the force is working on ethics-based framework and bias training and it's part of the journey for the service to improve.

"We're a reflection of society. We're a reflection of the community, and so we've looked at recruiting processes. We've looked at background investigations, enhanced psychological and wellness checks and all the different processes," he said.

"Every single day, every single hour, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week there's a lot of great things that are happening from a policing perspective in our community. Are there challenges? Absolutely. And do we make mistakes? Absolutely, and I want to be clear that allegations of sexual assault will be fully investigated by the oversight bodies we have in Ontario," he said.