April 13, 1999

To:Audit Committee

From:City Auditor

Subject:Update on the Audit of the Handling of Sexual Assault and Family Violence Cases by the Toronto Police Service

Purpose:

To provide the City Audit Committee, Audit Reference Group and the Toronto Police Services Board with an update on the audit regarding the handling of sexual assault and family violence cases by the Toronto Police.

Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

(1)this report be received for information by the Audit Committee; and

(2)this report be forwarded to the Audit Reference and the Toronto Police Services Board for their information.

Background:

City Council, at its meeting held on July 8, 9 and 10, 1998, adopted as amended the following motion:

"An audit be completed regarding the handling of sexual assault and family violence cases by the Toronto Police and a reference group be established for the audit whose membership shall include representatives from the Committee on the Status of Women, the Toronto Rape Crisis Centre, the Task Force on Community Safety, the Task Force on Community Access and Equity, as well as a citizen member of the Police Services Board, the Scarborough Women's Centre and any other interested women's organizations."

In a report to the City's Corporate Services Committee on September 25, 1998, the Committee on the Status of Women, at its meeting of September 17, 1998, discussed its input into the audit process, particularly in the context of the membership and terms of reference of the Audit Reference Group. The Committee on the Status of Women proceeded with the setting up of the membership of the Audit Reference Group and proceeded to consult with various organizations who work in the area of violence against women to recommend consultants to the City Auditor for consideration.

It was also determined that the Committee on the Status of Women should act as facilitator for the establishment of the Audit Reference Group and that for the purpose of the audit, the Audit Reference Group is advisory to the City Auditor. Further recommendations made by the Corporate Services Committee included the following:

(a)that the proposed audit be undertaken from the framework of gender equity which recognizes the diversity of women's backgrounds;

(b)that the definition of gender equity be complete and include the diverse backgrounds of women, and especially recognize that women have multiple dimensions to their lives;

(c)that the proposed audit process include hearing from victims and survivors;

(d)that there be a relationship between the Reference Group for the audit and the membership of the proposed community advisory committee on gender equality, sexual assault, family violence issues, etc.;

(e)that the audit team include professionals who have a working background in sexual assault, violence against women, policing, community safety, and, if this expertise is not available among audit staff, that external paid professional assistance be obtained;

(f)that honoraria be provided to organizations and persons who are on the Reference Group and on the proposed community advisory committee to recognize the service and expertise provided to the City of Toronto, and the need to backfill staff absences at agencies in order not to reduce services; and

(g)that the Reference Group process be open to all wishing to attend meetings, which will include regular meetings during the audit process.

Comments:

This study has been a prototype. To the best of our knowledge an audit of this nature has not been conducted elsewhere in North America. There is no precedent for such work and as a consequence, the conceptual approach and specific methodology had to be developed during the course of the audit. This methodology, while adapted to the mandate of the project, was based on established audit practices and procedures. As auditors for the City of Toronto, appointed by and accountable to City Council, the City Auditor is the auditor of the Toronto Police Services Board. Consequently, the City Auditor and his staff were already knowledgeable with the structure and processes of the Service.

This knowledge was supplemented through the use of consultants who are experts in the field of violence against women. The consultants provided the audit team with analysis, background information and context for understanding and developing a sound audit process. The consultants have been involved in the development of audit questionnaires, agency interviews, as well as the interview process relating to women who have been sexually assaulted. In addition, the consultants have also provided advice and guidance in other areas of the audit.

Additional staffing and consultation was obtained from other areas in the City, particularly the Strategic and Corporate Policy Division of the Chief Administrative Officer's Department. In addition, the Chief of Police appointed a senior police officer as a liaison contact for the duration of the project. The role of this person has been to facilitate contact with Police resources. In addition, the Audit Reference Group provided support to the audit process by arranging presentations from groups and individuals on various issues pertinent to the audit.

At the outset of the audit, a number of major issues were identified which, in the view of the audit team, play a significant part in the handling of sexual assault cases by the Police. These issues have been identified in the recommendations and judgements of court, jury and coroners' proceedings over the last decade, subsequent to the initiation of the investigation resulting in the Jane Doe civil suit. These issues were validated with the Audit Reference Group, a senior representative of the Police Service, as well as the consultants working with the audit team.

It became evident during the planning for this particular project that the scale of the audit had the potential to be wide-spread. With this in mind it was important that the audit be divided into more narrowly defined, manageable "second level" projects. However, in doing so, it was recognized that it was not appropriate to compartmentalize different parts of the audit, an issue that received significant attention during the audit process.

Within each of the key issues, significant second level concerns were identified and addressed during the audit process. In general terms the key issues which formed the foundation for the audit process included the following:

(a)nature and format of training of police officers;

(b)the mandate and effectiveness of the Sexual Assault Squad and its influence on the practices and procedures for divisional investigations;

(c)the effectiveness of the VICLAS Computer Tracing System;

(d)the progress made by the Toronto Police Service in addressing recommendations of various judicial reports including the Campbell and Iles May reports with a particular focus on the recommendations/noted areas of concern arising from the McFarland decision;

(e)evaluation of sexual assault occurrence, including those classified as unfounded;

(f)an evaluation of police attitudes around such issues as occupation; race; gender; sexual orientation; class; and physical appearance, and their impact on sexual assault investigations;

(g)Toronto Police Service's policies and procedures and the adherence to such polices and procedures;

(h)Toronto Police Service's personnel practices;

(i)Toronto Police Service's complaints process;

(j)community relations; and

(k)an evaluation of strip search practices, policies and procedures.

For each of the above areas, individual audit program questionnaires and approaches were designed oriented to elicit information and gather evidence in respect to the performance of the Police. These program questionnaires were used in interviews and meetings with various individual groups and organizations including the following:

• police trainers
• police officers attendees at various training programs
• members of the Sexual Assault Squad
• divisional police officers
• various agency personnel serving woman who report sexual assault
• women who have been sexually assaulted who report to the Police
• women who have been sexually assaulted who do not report to the Police
• women who have been sexually assaulted who report to the Police but discontinue proceedings soon after reporting
• program director, social worker and nurses at Women's College Hospital Sexual Assault Care Centre
• program director, social worker, doctor and nurses at Scarborough Grace Hospital Sexual Assault Care Centre
• program director at Victim Support Services

As indicated earlier, the identification of key issues was a first step in the audit process. Within each of these issues, individual components were identified and addressed. For instance, during the audit work on police officer training, the following sub-issues were included in the audit process:

• course content including evaluation of training videos
• course continuity
• course delivery
• duration and frequency
• selection of attendees
• funding devoted to training
• personnel devoted to training
• training of trainers
• qualifications of trainers
• relevance to operations
• evaluation of trainers
• evaluation of course effectiveness
• organizational expectations of training

The sub-issues examined relating to other components of the audit will be outlined in the final report.

Status of the Audit

A significant portion of the audit field work has been completed although, as is the case with most audits, additional work may be required when the final report is being prepared. The consultants, as well as City Audit staff, are currently conducting interviews with women who have been sexually assaulted. This process has been difficult and time consuming due to an understandable and general reluctance of sexually assaulted women to participate in an interview process which involves a restatement of painful experiences.

One of the audit objectives in this vitally important part of the audit is obtaining a significant number of responses with which to formulate valid conclusions. In general terms, this has also been a focus in many other parts of the audit. We have interviewed, and in some cases continue to interview, police officers, agency personnel, sexually assaulted women, etc. to the extent we consider necessary to formulate conclusions. In each case where evaluation indicated that additional information was not forthcoming through this process, efforts were discontinued.

A significant recommendation in the final report will relate to the need for an ongoing evaluation and monitoring process relating to the issues and recommendations raised in the report. A management process with external advice and expertise which reports on operational performance in the context of the recommendations in the report will be a critical component in the success of this audit.

Conclusion:

Although the audit process has been extensive, it was still performed on a test basis. Consequently, for instance, it did not cover all activities in all Police Divisions. However, the audit process involved an adequate level of work from which to formulate conclusions.

While this study has solicited the advice of a broad cross-section of the community including external consultants, as well as an Audit Reference Group, an audit by definition is an independent evaluation of management processes. This independence is the basis of an audit process and ultimately, a credible final audit report.

Contact Name and Telephone Number:

Jeff Griffiths, 392-8461

Jeffrey Griffiths

City Auditor