Standing in solidarity with Sexual Assault Survivors during Sexual Assault Prevention month
Hear Frank Domenic’s take on Ontario police officers being able to stay employed and paid after being convicted of egregious crimes.
May is Sexual Assault Prevention Month right across Canada.
So, I was more than a little surprised, and perplexed, when I found out that National Police Week runs from May 14th to 20th and this year’s theme is ‘Committed to Serve.’
Here’s the press release template that was made available to police services across Canada for distribution to local media:
May 14, 2023 – Today marks the beginning of National Police Week – a seven-day public awareness campaign that encourages increased awareness and understanding between police and the communities they serve.
This year, we recognize the oath officers proudly take to be “committed to serve” communities who want and expect the police to keep them safe.
To residents, we are the police. They do not differentiate between patches, names, or police services, but simply want one thing — for us to keep them safe and well. This is the duty and responsibility we proudly assume 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
“Insert quote here”, said , .
Public safety involves a collaborative effort within police agencies, between police services, and between the police, other first responders, social and community services, as well as residents. This week, the [insert appropriate police department] renews its oath to be #CommittedToServe the citizens in our region as we work together towards a better and safer future for all.
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What the press release failed to acknowledge was the lack of trust that many community members have for those who wear a police uniform and that includes victims of sexual assault.
Brockville Recorder reporter, Sabrina Bedford, reported that in February 2023, Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) constable Jason Redmond was found guilty of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman and recording it on his phone.
The assault took place in December 2017 after both Redmond and the victim had been drinking alcohol and using cocaine. The victim was unconscious when she was raped and had no memory of the assault.
The video became known to others, including several who testified at Redmond’s trial. Redmond claimed to have made the video of the assault to prove to the victim that she had a drinking problem and to show her that anyone could rape her while she was intoxicated.
However, a criminal investigation wasn’t launched until 2021 when the OPP became aware of the video’s existence. At no time did the OPP inform the public of the rape charge.
Redmond was on paid leave at the time of the rape after being convicted of drug trafficking in 2015. He was also found guilty of forging documents in 2018. Neither conviction resulted in jail time which meant Redmond was on paid leave and employed by the OPP at the time of the sexual assault. Redmond continues to be on paid leave.
In 2021 Redmond made the Sunshine list earning $121,047.96 that year according to the province.
According to Bedford’s account, the defendant plead not guilty. The two-day trial was in August 2022. The decision was handed down on February 16, 2023 in a judge-alone trial.
Redmond’s sentencing hearing was scheduled for April 14th. Instead, defence counsel Karin Stein requested it be rescheduled to May 31. That request was granted even though no reason was given for the delay.
Despite Redmond being found guilty on multiple occasions, until he actually spends a day in jail, or prison, he will get to keep his job and his salary.
On May 5, 2023, the CBC reported that Toronto police Constable, Ramdail Lokenath, was charged with four misconduct offences for inappropriate sexual conduct and having unwanted an inappropriate sexual relations while responding to a domestic assault call on May 19, 2022.
Documents obtained by CBC reported that Lokenath and his partner responded to a reported domestic assault. They arrested a man and took him to their cruiser.
Lokenath returned to the apartment under the guise of taking the victim’s statement. That’s when he turned off his body camera, muted the audio and engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct.
Later while off-duty, Lokenath returned to the apartment and engaged in unwanted and inappropriate sexual relations with the same woman.
At that time, Lokenath allegedly indicated he could influence the charges facing the woman’s husband.
In addition to these four charges, Lokenath was also charged with one count of misconduct for allegedly assaulting his wife on October 19, 2022. Her lip and left leg were injured during the assault.
Durham police arrested Lokenath, but released him on an undertaking with several conditions.
While the criminal charges Lokenath faces are being dealt with, the police investigation of his five misconduct charges has been adjourned.
Hear Frank Domenic’s take on Ontario police officers being able to stay employed and paid after being convicted of egregious crimes.
Then, there’s this City News report from 2017 about the start of the trial for three Toronto police officers who allegedly raped a parking enforcement officer.
City News broke the story in January 2015 that Constables Leslie Nyznik, Joshua Cabero and Sameer Kara faced allegations of engaging in non-consensual sex with a parking enforcement officer.
They were acquitted of criminal charges after trial by judge alone. Then, Police Services Act charges were dropped after the complainant refused to testify in November 2021. The complainant said that she had lost faith in the prosecution process according to a CBC report.
That is not surprising given the fact that these long, drawn out processes retraumatize victims of rape.
In 2014, Sargent Derek Mellor a 14-year veteran with Hamilton Police Services faced nine sexual misconduct charges.
Mellor was suspended with pay after pleading guilty to nine charges stemming from his work as lead of the human trafficking unit, Project Rescue.
The charges included sharing videos of his penis with sex workers and colleagues; having sex with the mother of a trafficking victim while working on the case; sending sexual photos and texts to women working with the human trafficking volunteer organization Walk With Me.
By resigning just before sentencing, all charges are stayed and will only be revived if he joins another police service in Ontario within five years.
At the time of his resignation, Mellor was also being investigated for allegations that he was having sex with a witness, or potential witness, in a domestic violence case he was working on.
In 2015, an RCMP officer in northern Manitoba arrested an intoxicated Indigenous woman at a house party. After work, he returned and requested she be released into his custody so he could "pursue a personal relationship."
The senior officer at the detachment released the woman into RCMP Constable Kevin Theriault’s ‘care.’ Theriault then drove the woman in his vehicle to his house.
Two co-workers tailed Theriault and called a supervisor when they saw him take the woman to his house. The supervisor contacted Theriault and told him to take the woman to her own home – which he did.
For this breach of trust, Theriault was fined seven days pay.
And, it continues with a Manitoba RCMP officer being charged with sexual assault and sexual interference of a minor in July 2020.
According to CTV News, the Independent Investigation Unit (IIU) found reasonable grounds to charge the officer under section 271 and 1515 of the Criminal Code of Canada.
The RCMP officer was released with a date to appear in provincial court. However, it proved impossible to follow up on the outcome of this case because the IIU released no details including the accused’s name or court date.
The Mass Casualty Commission that investigated the 2020 shootings in Nova Scotia that killed 22 people released its final report in March. It suggested that a three-year degree be required for all police officers across Canada regardless of which force they belong to.
That’s because the commission recognized that policing is a complicated mix of skills and knowledge and that candidates need a thorough vetting.
Instead, Doug Ford is lowering the standards for entry and the education requirement to a mere six months of training.
In an interview with CBC reporter Blair Rhodes, Sir Wilfrid Laurier University professor Scott Blandford said that post-secondary educated officers have a lower use of force, greater tolerance for diversity, and are much more inclusive of the communities that they police.
The commission report also stated that three years of post-secondary education better equips officers in areas where they routinely perform poorly. Those include investigating sexual assault complaints, criminal harassment, uttering threats, and identifying and responding to gender-based and intimate partner violence.
It should not go unnoticed that these are all crimes perpetrated predominantly against women.
Seems like it’s time to place a moratorium on police budget increases and recruit hires. Instead, those earmarked tax dollars need to be redirected to properly fund sexual assault centres, the creation of non-State torture legislation, sexual assault and harassment education programs, mental health services, universal health care, increasing minimum wage to $20, ensuring equal pay for equal work; ensuring overtime pay after 35 hours worked in a week; promoting full-time and permanent jobs; providing ten paid sick days annually with another 14 paid sick days during a pandemic; worker’s compensation for injuries sustained on the job; status for all; just cause protection from wrongful dismissal; an end to misclassification of Gig workers, and access for all to a union.
Because quite frankly, police/OPP/RCMP do not prevent crimes; don’t do a great job of investigating and solving crimes; have a history of assaulting those they claim they are protecting; are perpetrating the crimes they claim they prevent; and then use the system to avoid doing the time for the crimes they knowingly commit.
Standing in solidarity with sexual assault survivors during Sexual Assault Prevention month.