FORSAKEN The Report of the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry Volume IIB The Honourable Wally T. Oppal, QC Commissioner FORSAKEN The Report of the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry VOLUME IIB Nobodies: How and Why We Failed the Missing and Murdered Women Part 3, 4 and 5 The Honourable Wally T. Oppal, QC Commissioner British Columbia November 19, 2012 Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication British Columbia. Missing Women Commission of Inquiry Forsaken [electronic resource] : the report of the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry / Wally T. Oppal, Commissioner. Complete contents: Vol. I. The women, their lives and the framework of inquiry, setting the context for understanding and change - v. II. Nobodies, how and why we failed the missing and murdered women - v. III. Gone, but not forgotten, building the women’s legacy of safety together - v. IV. The Commission’s process. - Executive summary. Issued also in printed form. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-9917299-7-5 1. Serial murder investigation--British Columbia. 2. Missing persons--Investigation --British Columbia. 3. Murder victims--British Columbia. 4. Pickton, Robert William. 5. British Columbia. Missing Women Commission of Inquiry. 6. Downtown-Eastside (Vancouver, B.C.). 7. Governmental investigations--British Columbia. I. Oppal, Wallace T II. Title. HV6762 B75 B75 2012 363.25’9523209711 C2012-980202-6 Access to Report Please contact the following if you are interested in receiving a copy of the report or a CD-ROM of the report: Distribution Centre-Victoria PO Box 9455 STN PROV GOVT Victoria, BC V8W 9V7 Phone: 250 952 4460 Toll free: 1 800 282 7955 Fax: 250 952 4431 Email: [email protected] URL: http://www.bcsolutions.gov.bc.ca/opc/ For general inquiries, please call Service BC Call Centre Hours of operation are 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. PST – Monday through Friday In Victoria call: 250 387 6121 In Vancouver call: 604 660 2421 Elsewhere in BC call: 1 800 663 7867 Outside British Columbia call: 1 604 660 2421 Email address: [email protected] Telephone Device for the Deaf (TDD) In Vancouver call: 604 775 0303 Elsewhere in BC call: 1 800 661 8773 TABLE OF CONTENTS PART 3 – CRITICAL POLICE FAILURES ....................................................................................2 A. Poor Report Taking and Follow Up on Reports of Missing Women ...................................2 Overview ......................................................................................................................2 Missing Person Investigative Standards .........................................................................3 Reporting ......................................................................................................................4 Time delays in reporting women missing .....................................................................5 Inconsistent intake procedures ...................................................................................11 Barriers to reporting ..................................................................................................17 Initial Investigation .....................................................................................................22 Information recorded in reports .................................................................................23 Patrol dispatch ...........................................................................................................23 Lack of urgency in immediate response ....................................................................24 Interviewing reportees ...............................................................................................27 Attendance at last known address ..............................................................................28 Database entry and checks ........................................................................................32 Creating an additional delay: “Confirming the missing women as missing” ................33 Elevating the investigations to suspected homicide ....................................................35 Follow-Up Investigation ..............................................................................................38 Unexplained gaps in investigation .............................................................................39 Interviews with family, friends and associates ............................................................40 Failure to follow up on tips/interview and deal with POIs ..........................................42 Posters and other media .............................................................................................43 Use of community resources ......................................................................................44 Records and off-line CPIC searches ............................................................................46 Collection of dental/DNA evidence ...........................................................................48 Recording and File Reviews ........................................................................................49 Recording ..................................................................................................................50 File reviews and bring forwards/diary dates and involvement of supervisors ..............50 Communication with Family Members or Reportees ...................................................52 Degrading or insensitive treatment of families ...........................................................55 Formal complaints .....................................................................................................56 Sandra Cameron .......................................................................................................60 Conclusions on degrading and insensitive treatment ..................................................61 Inter-Jurisdictional Cooperation ...................................................................................62 Overall Assessment and Conclusions .........................................................................66 Internal Audit of VPD Missing Persons Unit .................................................................68 B. Faulty Risk Analysis and Risk Assessment .......................................................................69 Refusal to Accept Women Likely Murdered .................................................................70 The mistaken belief that the women were transient ....................................................70 Impact of the women’s “high-risk lifestyles” ...............................................................71 Delays in reporting women missing ...........................................................................72 Prior recognition of increasing numbers of missing and possibly murdered women ...72 Compounding the error: misrepresenting the location of women from the First Nations Summit List ...........................................................................................74 Alerts from Missing Persons Unit do not raise alarm bells ..........................................76 Confirmation of trend by knowledgeable patrol officer is disputed .............................76 Expressions of community concern are ignored or minimized ..................................78 Lack of Crime Scenes ..................................................................................................80 Concerns are discounted by senior managers ............................................................81 Delay in Accepting and Denial of Serial Killer Theory ................................................83 Early recognition of linkages between cases ...............................................................83 Initiation of Coquitlam Pickton investigation ..............................................................83 Det. Insp. Rossmo’s analysis is dismissed ...................................................................85 Community concern about possible serial killer ........................................................87 Public statements downplay or deny serial killer risk .................................................88 Currency of serial killer theory waxes and wanes .......................................................90 When did Pickton become a viable suspect of multiple homicides? ...........................91 Project Evenhanded’s focus on historic review ..........................................................92 Consequences of Faulty Risk Assessment .....................................................................94 C. Inadequate Proactive Strategy to Prevent Further Harm to Women in the DTES .............95 Prostitution Law Enforcement Strategies Put Women at Risk ........................................95 General Failure to Pursue Preventive Strategies............................................................98 Failure to Warn..........................................................................................................100 Failure to Take Steps to Protect Ms. Anderson Despite Specific Threats ......................105 D. Failure to Consider and Properly Pursue All Investigative Strategies ............................106 Failure to Employ an Aboriginal-Specific Investigation Strategy .................................107 Restricted Involvement of Family Members, Community and Media .........................109 Restricted involvement of family members and reportees