The Canadian media is continuously searching for the latest “victims” and they are not very discernible; the victims of weather, the victims of discrimination are a particular favourite, and/or any victims of the various forms of larceny. Eventually, as a viewer, it wears one down and we become convinced that the only role for us in our greater society is the one of the victim. The CBC is the worst, but the other media outlets are just as blameworthy. They are all analogous to the persons driving by a car accident, slowing to what they can see or take a video of. They are partial to a wildfire, or a flood, where victims are in abundance and seemingly not as put off by the mike being thrust in front of them and will take the time and describe in great detail the fire cresting the hill or the river spilling its banks. The messages of remorse and consternation are lapped up like a dog at its water bowl. If one takes any interest in the news you cannot avoid being pulled in to this swirling trauma. And it was a recent reading of a particular news item which led me to the discovery of what appears to be the latest buzz phrase being taught in the media relations departments of policing circles — it was the phrase “trauma informed investigation”.

I assume like many readers I asked myself, what in fact is a “trauma informed investigation”? After all, isn’t every investigation usually circling around the central issue of a traumatic event? This latest buzzy attempt by the pseudo intellectuals of police leadership originated as a news story about several women who had been “victimized” by a 60 year old alleged sex offender by the name of Stephen Lowe of Maitland Nova Scotia. Mr. Lowe is now accused of taking photographs of women and then using AI to alter them to create depictions of these same women naked or in various inappropriate poses; or in some cases in scenes of violence. These were actual pictures of women that he seemed to know, and there is allegedly now a total of fifty victims all from the areas of Nova Scotia, Ontario and Nunavut. A second man, Gregory Peter Van Beek of Nipissing Ontario has also been charged but it is yet unclear what his actual role in these crimes were or his relationship to Mr. Lowe.

The 79 charges against Lowe include: harassment, uttering threats, possessing and publishing obscene material, and child sexual abuse and exploitation material. The multi-jurisdiction investigation was led by the Ottawa Police Service and it is a different type of crime to be sure. The Ottawa police defined these fifty nine women as victims of “technology facilitated sexual violence”. However, it was at this point where the Ottawa city police public relations department in an effort to be in touch with the new 21st century victim went a little too far. The Ottawa police service in extolling the virtues of their investigation and the hard work they put in issued a statement saying that “the investigators launched a thorough, trauma informed and victim-centred investigation”. Again, you will be excused for thinking that most if not all investigations are “victim-centred”, after all you can’t have a complaint or start an investigation without some form of a victim.

Clearly, because most readers would be confused by the word salad and its terminology, the author of the article went on to ask the police to describe what they mean by “trauma informed”. By way of a further explanation the police spokesperson was quoted as saying that “consideration has been made to ensure victims feel secure, feel safe, feel supported”. Was the implication that this was not the case in other investigations? It didn’t end there. The women at the root of the story took exception to the Ottawa Police narrative and are apparently now complaining that they felt that there should have been greater “crisis intervention, safety planning, emotional support and referrals to community services”. They also state that there was not “enough communication from the Victim Witness Assistance program”. One woman described her personal trauma and the Ottawa police “breathtaking failure” in not fearing for “her safety” even though, it should be pointed out, Lowe was in custody at the time of her complaint.

Clearly there are a great many more details to come from this story. Equally clear was that the Ottawa Police spokesperson was clearly trying to be at the cutting edge of woke terminology so I don’t feel sorry for them and clearly they under estimated the level of the fringe woke in this country. So of course they made matters worse by trying to respond to the subsequent outcry by the “victims”. The Ottawa police spokesperson Inspector Pascal Labine was again asked to describe what they meant by “trauma informed” when these women were now alleging that they didn’t agree. Labine said that it meant that “officers keep victims informed of every step, ensure that they don’t have to repeat their story multiple times, and allow them to disclose information at their own pace”.

Having worked in a Sex Crimes unit and in a homicide unit over a number of years, speaking to victims and telling them next steps in terms of court proceedings is a matter of routine. It is not a secret as to what happens following these kinds of allegations and you have to prepare them for any future testimony. Furthermore, you can’t force a victim to tell their story, it must come from them on their own time, that is just common sense. It is also routine procedure that the victims are not subjected to multiple interviews from a variety of sources to avoid re-living the trauma. There is also the danger of too many statements from the victim where some of the details may differ which in turn could be problematic in court. I suspect that this was all done in the Ottawa based investigation as a matter of routine, and I suspect the media release was merely trying to sound more politically astute and add a level of self-importance to what seems like a pretty straightforward file in terms of the gathering of the evidence.

In this case the victims were in fact given access to victim services, and all the other assorted community services— what this complaint is about is that they apparently didn’t get enough of those services. What is enough in a crime of this type, especially one where the emphasis will be on emotional and psychological impacts? The Ottawa Police say that “throughout the investigation” (investigators) prioritized “victim safety and support.” So there you have it, damn if you do and damned if you don’t. This particular complaint in Ottawa is of course blatantly ridiculous so hopefully it will not be given any further credence in the media.

Victims in rape and sexual assault investigations have been fighting a battle for many years about their often crude and unenlightened treatment, both by the police, but also in the courts. There has been great progress over the years based on the better understanding of these types of crimes. In this particular case, however, these women are probably hurting the cause more than helping it.

My advice to all police spokespersons, which they are free to ignore is to quit blowing hot air, quit playing to the buzz, simply state the charges, the nature of the charges and that the matter is before the courts. Quit playing to the victim nuance. You can describe the parameter of the investigation and the resulting action, just like any investigation, and leave it at that. Unfortunately, the current mind set of police chiefs and their senior executives is to always want to be out front when an investigation is deemed to be a success and where there are political points to score. Conversely, there is no news conference if an investigation ends badly, or they hide behind the statement that they have no comment because the matter is before the courts. In drug and gang investigations how many times are we to be shown the staged tables of seized weapons and the mountains of packaged drugs and always standing behind them are the ten police executives who really had no part in the investigation other than signing the overtime cheques and authorizing the investigation to be resourced. Recently in Ontario the OPP had such a press conference on a year long file at the border, named Project Bay, involving multiple agencies, where $139 million in various drugs were seized and twenty-two individuals charged. A success by any measure and clearly there was some good investigative work done.

However, recognition of a job well done is not enough for police leadership. In this case, stacks of seized drugs were piled on top of tables, firearms laid out, in particular an anti-tank gun was displayed significantly and in the speeches all referred to the menacing gun positioned at the front of the display. There were several senior officers representing the 14 police agencies that were involved, like Windsor Police Chief Jason Crowley, who dramatically reflected on how “I truly do lose sleep over stuff like this for our community and other communities”. The other themes were the usual things such as “working together effectively” and “enhancing public safety”. I think the public knows the routine now. These staged media events have become the equivalent of a police rally. The media are demanding a photo op, just like the tank gun was purposely put out to garner that ah hah pictorial moment, so the police executives take full advantage.

Commissioner Duheme recently travelled to Los Angelas to stand before the media cameras, with other U.S. agency leaders, to take credit for the RCMP role in the investigation on the south asian gangs operating in the U.S. and Canada and in particular the Bishnoi gang based in India. The Commissioner gave a rather long rendition as to the power of investigative cooperation, “information sharing”, “intelligence sharing”, and describing being “embedded” with the FBI. It was a case that clearly was headed and under the direction of the Americans and based on the international investigative efforts of the Americans. All the charges were unsealed in California, and for Canada’s part they only intend to use “expedited deportation orders” to send those arrested on behalf of the Americans back to the States to stand trial. Four arrests of the twenty or so, were made in Canada but no charges were laid in Canada.

However Duheme wanted and needed to get some favourable publicity considering all the negativity being directed to the south asian extortions in B.C and Ontario which have been commanding headlines across Canada. Clearly, it was worth a flight from Ottawa to Los Angelas to him and the organization. Even if the Americans clearly did the majority of the evidence gathering, albeit armed with their better racketeering laws, a decision was made that one could not waste the RCMP moment to shine on the “cooperation” it had extended to the California district attorney.

This always wanting to take a bow, for doing their job, just seems a little unseemly. Maybe I am wrong, maybe my discomfort is the result of an old school philosophy where we historically went to great effort to stay behind the scenes, to avoid the cameras. But his is clearly the new selfie generation of police leadership, humility is no longer part of the lexicon, image and spin is of much greater importance. As Marshall McLuhan wrote about the medium being more important than the message and that the tool or format used to share information shapes our thoughts more than the actual facts inside. Style over truth, speed over depth, style over substance. Police in society historically have been perceived as the strength, the unbendable seekers of truth and justice, the foundational blocks of a democratic society unfettered by bias or political influence. This new bending to a fickle social media or aiming for a jarring headline in the long run may not in fact be the ideal medium for a positive policing message.