A new sexual violence investigation unit made up of specially-trained RCMP officers will begin operating in New Brunswick later this year.
New Brunswick has some of the highest rates of child sexual assault charges in the country, and according to data from Statistics Canada, last year had the highest number of human trafficking reports in the province since 1998.
Those factors, along with recommendations from an RCMP report, led to the creation of the sexual violence investigation unit.
“This will try to disrupt the human trafficking in New Brunswick, sexual violence. This is something horrible. So we’re taking action to put people on the ground who know what they’re doing about this,” said Robert Gauvin, New Brunswick’s justice and public safety minister.
“It affects every region of the province. So today I would say this is the first step, taking action and try to getting rid of this as much as we can.”
The unit’s first office will be operating out of the Courage Centre in Shediac, N.B., which helps victims of family violence. More offices will open next year in Oromocto and Tracadie and will be managed by the RCMP headquarters in Fredericton.
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It will be the first of its kind in Atlantic Canada.
Courage Centre’s executive director, Kristal LeBlanc, says she hopes the existence of the unit will encourage more people to come forward.
Most notably, the ability to speak to a police officer in what’s called a “soft interview room,” which resembles a living room, should make the process more comfortable.
“Historically, when police do interviews with victims, it happens in the same interrogation room that they also use for suspects. The environment needs to and should be entirely different,” she said.
“It’s more likely that victims are going to want to participate in that justice process if they’re in a calm atmosphere and they receive the services they need in one location.”
RCMP Insp. Marie-Eve MacKenzie-Plante says the force is actively hiring 14 officers who will work in Tracadie, Oromocto and Shediac. They will be specially trained to handle sexual assault reports with a trauma-informed approach.
“By bringing that approach, we expect that victims will come forward and trust that the police is doing everything in their best interest,” said MacKenzie-Plante.
She added that the officers will be trained in interviewing children.
“We need specific techniques, or we use specific techniques when we interview children to ensure that we’re not leading them. So these investigators have that type of training and also the capacity to deal with various more complex files,” she said.
“So there’s a slew of various trainings that they’ll be taking.”
The province’s goal is to have Shediac’s portion of the unit operational by the end of 2025. The province says its investment of $2.8 million will also provide resources and partnerships to prevent re-victimization, reduce trauma, and improve safety for vulnerable populations.
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