Posted By LUKE HENDRY THE INTELLIGENCER
Posted February 10th, 2010
Area police were forced to manage a "balancing act" between making an arrest and warning the public in the Russ Williams case, a criminology expert says.
Police, though, were continuing to guard their methods Tuesday as their investigation continues.
"It's really for the police chief and investigators to engage in that balancing act: is it likely they're going to be able to track this person down or should they now be announcing to the population that there is a person loose who is doing this and to be doubly careful?" Rob Gordon, director of criminology at Vancouver's Simon Fraser University, said Tuesday in an telephone interview.
If they release information too quickly, it may spoil an investigation that could lead to an arrest and effective prosecution. On the other hand, if they hold on to it for too long, it could result in further victimizations.
"There's no policy any police manager can use with any accuracy to determine when they can tip one way or the other," said Gordon.
In a case in Vancouver, he said, police opted to alert school staff and parents that "someone in the school was an abduction target."
Criminal profiling -- both psychological and geographic -- is a tool used by police in some major cases. An expert can analyze patterns in crimes and help track down suspects.
Williams, a colonel then in command of CFB Trenton, is charged in connection with attacking women in two home invasions in Tweed Sept. 17 and Sept. 30, 2009. He's also charged in the murder of Cpl. Marie-France Comeau of Brighton, who was killed last November, and Jessica Lloyd of Belleville, whose body was discovered in Tweed this week.
Similarities in the first two home invasions could warrant enlistng the help from one type of profiler, Gordon said.
"You certainly would after the second one occurred, depending on the availability of the resources," he said.
"You've got somebody who's busy doing the same thing. You need to start trying to predict where the next event will occur and also trying to get some idea of who this person might be."
Both Belleville and Ontario Provincial Police have said very little about how they came to suspect Williams. They have also noted they are now examining other cases for potential links.
Sgt. Kristine Rae, OPP eastern region spokeswoman, told The Intelligencer investigators aren't saying if profiling or other methods played a role in the case.
"Thoughout the investigations there have been special units that have been utilized but we're not prepared to discuss which ones," said Rae.
Rae did say, however, that legislation requires all Ontario police officers to enter information into the computerized Violent Crime Linkage Analysis System, or ViCLAS, so crimes can be compared and similarities found.
"The information sharing is definitely there," said Rae.
"The investigators investigate all these crimes very seriously," she said. "Everything possible that can be collected is collected.
"With Jessica Lloyd's disappearance, it wasn't until that point in time that all four of them could be linked. We have to go where the evidence takes us."
Police said information obtained in a Feb. 4 traffic blitz on Highway 37, the main route between Belleville and Tweed, led them to arrest Williams. Drivers were asked various questions related to the case.
Rae would not comment on rumours that Williams himself was questioned at the checkpoint or that police were examining vehicles' tires. She also declined to answer whether police received a tip while at the checkpoint or gathered evidence some other way, saying only that the evidence was "information that officers obtained" at the time.
Police have also faced questions about their warnings to the public about the case.
Rae said she issued a public warning personally Sept. 30, the day of the second home invasion in Tweed.
"There was a strong concern for the community."
She said the press release was sent that day to media throughout the region.
Last week, with Lloyd still missing, Belleville Police issued a public warning to women, advising them to take greater precautions to stay safe.
Kim Charlebois, executive director of the Belleville-based Sexual Assault Centre for Quinte and District, said at the time it was the right move. She cited Toronto's "Jane Doe" case -- in which police withheld information about a rapist and further rapes occurred -- as an example of what can happen when such warnings aren't issued.
Charlebois said Tuesday the release of further details following Williams' arrest hasn't changed her opinion on last week's warning and its timing, which she described as "a really tough call."
"I didn't think it was fear-mongering; I didn't think it was too harsh," she said. "It's always important to let the community know if they believe there's a serious offender in the community."
That applies to a wide range of cases, she said, from pedophiles just released from prison to someone who has attacked women and hasn't been captured.
"Too many times in the past the information has come too late."
She added the warning was the best option with a suspect still at large.
"We can't blame the police for not making an arrest when they don't yet have the evidence to find somebody," said Charlebois.
She said staff of the Sexual Assault Centre, Belleville's Three Oaks Foundation and Central Hastings OPP held an information meeting at Centre Hastings Secondary School in Madoc after the home invasions and offered advice on personal safety.
"The community was aware," she said.
Charlebois said there is a constant fight to change public perceptions about such attacks even when there isn't a current case in the news.
"A lot of people laugh at what we say or ignore what we have to say. (They say) 'It's just those women again.'
"We talk about the person often being in a position of power and trust. We talk about not buying
into the false message or the stereotype that it's the person in the dark alley or that stranger that nobody's ever heard of before, a person that's not from your community."
She said reports that Williams is "a nice man" match similar comments in countless other cases.
"When are we going to realize that often women are being sexually assaulted and physically assaulted by people that are perceived to be nice men?" she said. "There are different sides to people."
Charlebois said women's advocates need more public support in ending violence against women.
Belleville's Three Oaks Foundation executive director Pam Havery said Tuesday she was "not comfortable commenting" on how police have handled the Williams case.
"I don't want to comment on the specific cases until they're resolved," she said.
But she said the foundation, which provides shelter and services for abused women and their children, takes seriously all police warnings about women's safety.
"We encourage women to ensure that they take the precautions all the time," Havery said, suggesting women keep identification and cash on them. "We're doing work with women around Internet safety."
Havery said there has been increased interest in the foundation since Lloyd disappeared.
"We've had an increase in calls. Anything like this has such high visibility and it's such high publicity that it's a trigger."
She said women in need in the Quinte region can call the foundation's 24-hour crisis line at 613-966-3074 or 1-800-267-0533 or visit www.threeoaksfoundation.orgfor information.
Rae said daily safety precautions are good practice for everyone.
She suggested residents be aware of their surroundings, not travel alone, carry a mobile phone, change their direction or enter a public place if concerned about their situation and call police.
"Those calls we don't mind," said Rae.
lhendry@intelligencer.ca
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment