Smithers RCMP Staff Sgt. Rob Mitchell responded to questions about a critical report by the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP released last week.
The report said policing in northern B.C. was lacking in areas of record-keeping and and policy. Areas highlighted included missing persons, domestic violence, and dealing with intoxicated persons.
Read more on Staff Sgt. Mitchell's explanation of a detailed 2016 review on all missing persons cases, plus a story on the rise in domestic abuse reports, in the Feb. 22 edition of The Interior News.
Mitchell replied to The Interior News via email on the three issues covered in the report.
On intoxicated persons:
"- When the Smithers RCMP arrest an individual for public intoxication under the Liquor Control and Licencing Act (LCLA), the reason is clearly documented on file. Furthermore, Smithers Detachment officers document the level of intoxication by completing the screening section on the prisoner report. This includes notation on all causes of impairment, breath odour of liquor, balance, speech patterns, state of mind, consciousness, rousability, and unusual actions.
- Intoxicated persons are released once they are sober and able to safely care for themselves, nor pose a danger to others.
- When a young person is arrested, the parents or guardians are notified. Young people are turned over to the care of their parents/guardians whenever possible."
On domestic violence:
"- Smithers RCMP conducts a yearly quality assurance review of violence in relationship files.
- Victim and witness statements are always attempted in the first instance. Police officers, in order to encourage reluctant or uncooperative domestic assault victims to provide a statement, approach the victim again over a period of three months .
- A domestic violence supervisor quality assurance / risk assessment template is completed by a NCO on each file to ensure the file is policy compliant.
- Smithers RCMP always recommend charges to Crown counsel if there is any evidence to support the domestic assault offence. Suspects are arrested and brought to court, or released on conditions including no contact with the victim and "no go" to the residence, pending the trial date.
- Overall, crimes against persons (assaults, threats, sexual assaults) are stable when comparing 2016 to 2015 statistics. In the category of domestic violence, files increased from 51 cases in 2015 to 95 files in 2016. This is not a reflection of an increase in the frequency of domestic violence, but rather the result of more victims reporting incidents to police. Education and the pro-active work of both community-based Victim Services and police-based Victim Services has played an important role in encouraging women to step forward and report violence in relationships. Historically, many cases of domestic violence (also sexual assault) have not been reported to the police."