Police Lauded For Efforts In Stolen Sisters Cases

Police Lauded For Efforts In Stolen Sisters Cases

Monday, April 26, 2010 at 14:41

 

 

The Saskatchewan Aboriginal Women’s Circle says there are several reasons why Saskatchewan has a higher rate of clearing cases of missing and murdered Aboriginal women than the other provinces.

 

SAWC president Judy Hughes says the RCMP and police services have a good working relationship with her organization, other Aboriginal agencies and victims’ families.

 

Hughes says families, in particular, have given specific suggestions to improve police services.

 

She also credits “changes in police policies on how reports of missing persons are handled, the FSIN Investigation Unit, and monitoring of cases and pressure from support agencies and individuals”.

 

According to Hughes’ group, Saskatchewan is the only province in Canada that collects information of Aboriginal identity for cases of missing persons.

 

Sgt. Kirby Buckingham of the RCMP’s Historical Case Unit says families and friends have been helping keep missing people in the public’s eye.

 

However, Hughes is greeting Saskatchewan’s relative success with these cases with caution.

 

She says even though a recent report uses the term “cleared” for homicide cases that have resulted in a charge, “the alleged perpetrator may not yet have gone to court or the case could be dragging through the court system — it does not mean that all those cases have been concluded or that there was a conviction”.

 

Hughes adds: “With the high number of Aboriginal women and girls missing or murdered in Saskatchewan, much more preventative measures and strategies are needed at the grassroots level”.