London police chief facing backlash following comments on review of sexual assault cases

London’s police chief is taking some heat after commenting on the status of the review into unfounded sexual assault cases.

The service is currently reviewing about 690 of those cases after a report from the Globe and Mail earlier this year turned up statistics that suggested 30 per cent of sexual assault cases since 2010 were classified as unfounded.

Pare said so far, the review of the cases hasn’t turned up any irregularities. Critics believe it’s inappropriate for Pare to comment before the investigation is done.

Speaking with AM980, Pare said it’s important to note this isn’t a re-investigation, but a review and they’re also focused on moving forward.

“Part of that is looking at the lasting changes that support victims through the entire judicial process, and that’s working collaboratively with our partners, so there are a number of community partners that we have been having some discussions with about, you know, what is the best way to respond, what are some of the best practices, you know, evidence-based trauma informed investigations,” he said.

If something comes up in the review, Pare said they will delve deeper.

“Part of the rationale we went by with not re-investigating these things, it was if something was obviously missed in the case and it has to be clearly understood that reviews are done on the investigative steps that the investigator took and how they arrived at their outcomes,” he said. “It’s about how we can improve on those processes and improve on outcomes, and that’s what we’re looking for in the future.”

At the start of the review, Pare said they expected it would take about a month. It’s now four months in and there’s no timeline for its conclusion.