POLICE CHARGING POLICIES & DOMESTIC VIOLENCE - Native ...

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1. Poem Excerpt: Death MurmurBy Jeanette ArmstrongThere are some Indianshanging around Kings hoteland they are dead,preserved in alcohol.It would be neater thoughto kills us all at once.Whole clans and tribescould be dressed and stuffed.Add a fifth floor to the museumto accommodate us.Better yetpile us up like cordwoodin those longhouseswe would be home at lastand it would be good value.(Excerpt from poem published in: Connie Fife, The Colour of Resistance: AContemporary Collection of Writing by Aboriginal Women (Toronto: Sister Vision Press,1993) at 10)Pg. 4
2. IntroductionThe results of this study indicate that mandatory charging policies are not uniformthroughout the various federal, provincial and territorial jurisdictions. As a result,charging policies are not applied uniformly throughout Canada by police officers. Nor dopolice officers have uniform authority to intervene in aboriginal domestic violencesituations. Wife assault within the aboriginal community has reached epidemicproportions. It is imperative that those who work in the criminal justice system recognizethat aboriginal women in domestic violence situations are at a higher risk than womenviolated by strangers. The mandatory charging policy, issued by the Royal CanadianMounted Police, has been in effect in the Northwest Territories since 1981. It has beenin effect in southern Canada since 1984. The assumptions behind the charging policyare: first, the police will lay charges where there are reasonable and probable groundsthat an offence occurred; and, second, the victim should be relieved from laying chargesin domestic violence situations. The Administration of the Criminal Code in Canada isthe responsibility of each province and territory. Each has the jurisdiction pertaining tothe assault provisions used in domestic violence situations. This report will show thatthe national charging policy did not necessarily relieve the victim from bearing theburden of reporting the violence crime, nor did it always aid the police in carrying outtheir mandate. For clarification, the term "Native Justice Projects" is a misnomer. Theseparticular projects deal with the administration of Canada's criminal laws, not withenforcing traditional or customary laws in aboriginal communities. While there is onelaw, there are also many law enforcers, Native and non-Native.3. MethodologyIt is evident, upon review, that little has been written on the mandatory charging policiesin aboriginal domestic violence situations and the impact of those policies upon theaboriginal community .It was necessary, therefore, to obtain data on charging policiesaffecting aboriginal women in domestic violence situations. To collect the data, aquestionnaire on charging policies was sent to 240 Native justice projects nationwideincluding Attorneys-General; regional and local police forces; the Royal CanadianMounted Police; court workers; diversion projects; Indian Bands; and Native-controlledjustice projects. Set within the framework of seven questions, each question is dividedinto responses received from the Native justice projects and those of the police. Thisincludes those police who answered on behalf of "Native justice projects". Thecompilation listing Native justice projects which were surveyed was obtained from aninventory distributed by the federal Department of Justice. Some of these projects werefunded by the federal Department of Justice and some were funded by provinces. Theonly concern with "Native Justice Projects" here is their response to the questionnaireon charging policies by the police in aboriginal domestic violence situations.Pg. 5
Page 1 and 2: Native Women’s Association of Can
Page 3: 9. Chapter 4 - What Alternatives ar
Page 7 and 8: Recommendation 7The charging polici
Page 9 and 10: Recommendation 20It is recommended
Page 11 and 12: 6. Chapter 1 - Mandatory Charging P
Page 13 and 14: British Columbia, one respondent no
Page 15 and 16: Discrepancies concerning the applic
Page 18 and 19: c) Problems with Third Party Interv
Page 20 and 21: ) Mistrust of the Justice SystemNat
Page 22 and 23: g) Problem with the Failure to Foll
Page 24 and 25: j) The Community Must Take Responsi
Page 26 and 27: 9. Chapter 4 - What Alternatives Ar
Page 28 and 29: The Northwest Territories' responde
Page 30 and 31: Men with violent tendencies must de
Page 32 and 33: Geographical barriers prevent abori
Page 34 and 35: noted that it was only in the last
Page 36 and 37: 11. Chapter 6 - Discerning the Role
Page 38 and 39: causes." Tribal police are credited
Page 40 and 41: c) Need to Provide and Support Alte
Page 42 and 43: f) Need for Self-Policing for First

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