West Shore RCMP establishes Special Victim’s Unit

West Shore

2022-12-08 07:41 PST

The West Shore RCMP has created a new unit that will handle investigating sexual offences. The Special Victims Unit (SVU), is comprised of 1 Corporal and 2 Constables that are overseen by the Serious Crimes Staff Sergeant.

In 2021, West Shore RCMP investigated 123 reports involving sexual offences like: Sexual Assaults, Sexual Interference, Invitation to Sexual Touching, Child Abuse/Luring, Voyeurism and more. We determined there was a need for a specialized unit to handle some of these investigations as they are very complex in nature. Often, sexual offence investigations require a significant amount of time, making it difficult for Frontline officers to investigate while also responding to other calls for service, said John Ferguson Staff Sergeant in charge of West Shore RCMP Serious Crimes.

The creation of the unit does not change how sexual offences are reported to police. A report of this nature will come into the West Shore RCMP and from there the SVU unit will determine if their unit’s expertise is required. SVU officers are highly skilled and specifically trained in critical investigative techniques like: interviewing children, writing search warrants and, monitoring victims who are at risk of being re-victimized. SVU investigators routinely connect with other agencies who are also providing supports to victims as well as hold training sessions with Frontline officers to ensure our investigations are conducted from a trauma-informed perspective.

The 106 sexual offences investigated by the West Shore RCMP in 2021 does not include the number of Child Pornography related investigations handled by the Serious Crimes Unit. A significant portion of the Serious Crimes Unit resources goes into investigating offences related to Child Pornography. In 2021, the unit investigated a total of 19 Child Pornography, Possession/Acquisition and Distribution files. That number jumped to 39 files of this nature as of December 2022 and West Shore RCMP expect this number to continue increasing.

Similar to sexual offence investigations, reports of Child Pornography are very heavy on police resources with officers having to obtain search warrants, conduct surveillance, as well as engage Tech Crimes Specialists to examine digital data. In November 2022, an 18-month jail sentence was handed down to a West Shore man who was convicted of being in Possession of Child Pornography. This was a Serious Crimes Unit investigation that took 2.5 years to complete. Our officers are dedicated individuals working hard to keep our community safe, said Staff Sergeant John Ferguson.
 

Released by

Cpl. Nancy Saggar

Email: westshore_media@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
Website: westshore.rcmp-grc.gc.ca (English only)

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