Edmonton’s police chief says woman’s sexual assault allegations were not ignored

EDMONTON – Edmonton’s police chief has publicly refuted allegations his officers jailed a woman and ignored her sexual assault complaint because she had outstanding warrants.

Rod Knecht writes in a letter to the editor of the Edmonton Journal that recent media coverage about the woman’s experience has been “inaccurate and inflammatory.”

Police said they were called to a motel to check on the welfare of an 18-year-old woman in mid-February and that paramedics treated her at the scene.

Knecht writes that officers took her to the police station for followup investigation.

But he says she gave no indication she had been sexually assaulted, so they brought her to the city’s Remand Centre because of her warrants.

Knecht says the woman didn’t disclose she had been sexually assaulted until “several hours later” and was taken to hospital and an investigation was started.

“Unsubstantiated and unfounded reports of racism and police ineptitude by third-party observers were reported on in social media, absent the facts of the initial response,” Knecht wrote in his letter to the paper.

“These unchecked erroneous views were reported as accurate to a broader audience in the mainstream media. The comments undermined the efforts of first responders who worked to assist the female victim and only served to negatively impact the sexual assault investigation,” he added.

The investigation into the sexual assault is ongoing, he says.

Tom Engel, a lawyer who is representing the woman, said his client suffered a memory loss during the incident and that he is still trying to get information from police.

Engel said all the woman remembers is being in a hotel room and then waking up in a cell.

“Unfortunately, this young woman apparently suffered a severe head injury,” Engel said. “Her ability to recall what happened was compromised, so we have to rely on getting information from other sources to find out what happened.”

He says lawyers are currently looking at a number of issues to try and determine exactly what happened.

“What was the police response, how was she treated in the Remand Centre,” Engel explained. I’m trying to find out what actually happened here and then figure out what we would do about it.”

“I think it’s fair to say this is a complicated matter,” Engel said. “At this time, we’re saying we don’t want to say any more until we know more.”

An Edmonton youth worker, Mark Cherrington, who had come to the woman’s defence last month, said police essentially ignored the woman’s assault complaint, telling her to come back after she was out of jail.

The case prompted outrage on social media websites and a demonstration was held by a small group of protesters near the jail on Friday.

“Clearly police are not going to do their jobs so we need to do it. We need to come up with systems to protect each other,” one demonstrator told the crowd.

Knecht wrote in his letter that the officers’ actions were “professional and appropriate.”

“Sometimes we might be a little too quick to blame the police. In this case, irresponsible and unaccountable social media commentary was adopted as factual, and subsequently sensationalized, in the mainstream,” the chief wrote.
 

Read Police Chief Rod Knecht’s letter in its entirety below:

Recent coverage in the media, including the Journal, regarding a young woman’s experiences with the Edmonton Police Service has been inaccurate and inflammatory.

The facts of the case are simple. Within minutes of receiving a mother’s request for help, two police officers took extra steps to locate her distressed daughter. Once the daughter was located, she was immediately provided with EMS medical treatment and then transported to a police station for followup investigation and assessment.

During the interview, she did not provide any information on a sexual assault. She was subsequently taken into custody to address outstanding warrants.

Several hours later at the Edmonton Remand Centre, the daughter disclosed she had been sexually assaulted, and she was transported to a hospital. An EPS sexual assault detective was notified and responded to the hospital to start the investigation. That investigation is ongoing.

Unsubstantiated and unfounded reports of racism and police ineptitude by third-party observers were reported on in social media, absent the facts of the initial response. These unchecked erroneous views were reported as accurate to a broader audience in the mainstream media. The comments undermined the efforts of first responders who worked to assist the female victim and only served to negatively impact the sexual assault investigation.

The EPS is committed to treating every reported case of sexual assault with urgency and compassion, regardless of who the victim is. We also treat every case of outstanding warrants in the manner described in the Police Act and the Oath of Office. If someone has an outstanding warrant, we are duty-bound to deal with it.

Police officers are rightfully held to a high standard and the EPS should be held to account for its failings. Upon a review of the response of the investigating officers, this was not one of those failings – their actions were professional and appropriate.

Sometimes we might be a little too quick to blame the police. In this case, irresponsible and unaccountable social media commentary was adopted as factual, and subsequently sensationalized, in the mainstream.

Journal columnist Paula Simons has one key element of this situation right – the system has failed this young woman. In this case, the system is much broader than the police.

– Rod Knecht, police chief, Edmonton
 

With files from Global News.