Police board critical of MMIW investigation report
Some members of Winnipeg's police board are not happy with the lack of information they're getting on the progress of investigations into murdered and missing indigenous women (MMIW).
"I guess I expected something different. We do now have a strategic plan that has several elements that address this topic in the plan and I guess I anticipated what we might see is an analysis of what is currently being done," said Mary Jane Loustel, after a Friday morning presentation on the Project Devote task force.
"We might also see what is going to be different over the next three years that's going to result in a profound difference for us in the city of Winnipeg. What might be some of those goals, what might change?"
Police Supt. Danny Smyth told the board the task force has made significant progress on two cases. But police would not give details on those cases.
"It really isn't something I can speak to publicly because we don't want to jeopardize the integrity of the investigation, so we don't really get into operational detail," Smyth told reporters after the meeting.
The task force, called Project Devote, was created in 2011, to examine homicide and missing persons cases that meet the following five criteria:
- Substance abuse.
- Transient lifestyle.
- Hitchhiking.
- Mental health issues.
- Involvement in the sex trade.
There are 29 investigations currently linked to Project Devote.
Scott Gillingham, a city councillor and member of the police board, also expressed disappointment. He said the board and police service need to get together to "talk clearly about what kind of framework we're looking for and what kind of reporting the board is wanting and expecting" on the MMIW cases.
"We had not stated that clearly. It's better that we state that clearly, so the kinds of information we want [will] come forward."
On Friday, Smyth also updated the police board on other investigations by the police service.
Missing persons
In the first quarter of this year, there were 1,700 reports but many of those are the same people, considered chronic runaways. The average age of those people is 17 and 70 per cent of them are female.
In all, there were 597 individuals and all have been located and returned.
Also of note, 84 per cent of the missing persons are youth in the care of Child and Family Services. The majority are youth staying in group homes.
Sex trade
The police counter exploitation team made contact with 37 street-level sex trade workers during the first quarter.
Of those, three were new to investigators.
Ten of the sex trade workers were moved to safe places.
Police arrested 15 johns and launched six exploitation investigations and four human trafficking investigations. The victims in those cases were both Aboriginal and Caucasian, police said.
