To Serve and Protect? An Empirical Study of Police-Involved Sexual Assault

Oversight and accountability for serious incidents in Canada: Who polices the police?

“…The BEI has jurisdiction over all cases where the victim or complainant is Inuit or a member of a First Nation, which is recognition of the fraught relationship between police and Indigenous communities, an issue that is not unique to Quebec. Jurisdiction over sexual assault and IPV speaks to the lack of public confidence in the justice system to adequately respond to these offences when committed by police (McNabb & Puddister, 2022). Furthermore, the police officer advantage in assessments of credibility and in accessing the justice system are most relevant in sexual assault and IPV cases where evidence may be limited, making it even more important that these incidents are investigated by an independent agency.…”

“…The study of police oversight and accountability has not been a central concern of Canadian public administration, and only a few studies consider police accountability beyond a single case study or high‐profile incident. Puddister and McNabb (2021) and McNabb and Puddister (2022) analyze the Special Investigations Unit (SIU)—Ontario's independent police oversight agency—and its investigations into the criminal conduct of police officers in Ontario. Highlighting the unique difficulties of investigating and prosecuting police officers, the authors find that officers are rarely charged for criminal conduct by the SIU.…”

“…There are other challenges to police accountability. The low visibility nature of policing—much of police work is conducted outside of the view of the public and superior officers—makes it difficult to gather evidence and investigate allegations made against police (McNabb & Puddister, 2022; Rowe, 2020). When physical, forensic, or other evidence is lacking, assessments of credibility are essential (Bowling et al, 2019).…”

“…The SIU explains that it does not share reports for sexual assault investigations to encourage future reporting for this vastly underreported violent crime. Because unsubstantiated reports are anonymous and do not contain any identifying information, this restriction is arguably overly cautious (McNabb & Puddister, 2022). The Tulloch Report (2017) did not make this distinction with sexual assault investigations when recommending that the SIU publish unsubstantiated reports.…”