THUNDER BAY POLICE SERVICE
Scott Paradis, Media Coordinator
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Police officers rushed toward a north-side apartment building shortly after 2 a.m. Saturday, a response to a reported stabbing.
Officers from the service’s Uniform Patrol Branch’s Unit B would be looking for a victim whose condition was unknown to them. They were also looking for an accused, who happened to be the person who reported the stabbing to 911 minutes earlier.
Dispatch continued to pepper information to the responding officers as they made their way toward the apartment. Among the key details shared was that the victim and accused were known to one another – boyfriend and girlfriend.
This detail confirmed that officers were about to dive into a complex, and unfortunately too common, case of domestic violence.
“You don’t know what you’re getting into,” said Unit B Sgt. Chris Carlucci, speaking generally about responding to cases of domestic violence. “You get the bare information from dispatch, which they’re getting from the victim or the accused at the time … there’s always more to the story.”
Getting further details can be complicated. The accused, victim and even third-party witnesses can often be unwilling or unable to provide more of the information investigators need.
Another challenge can come in the form of a victim who is sympathetic to their attacker.
“It can definitely be a common theme,” Sgt. Carlucci said. “The victim, whether male or female, has a level of remorse or feels bad for the attacker. Sometimes the (accused) has a level of power over (the victim) as well, and (the victim) may think they rely on that person and that there is no other person who can take care of them.”
At the north-side apartment in the early morning hours of Saturday, Nov. 9, getting those details from a victim was not yet the priority. The officers arrived to an apartment with obvious signs of a struggle, which included significant amounts of blood. However, they didn’t find a victim nor an accused; no boyfriend, no girlfriend.
The injuries of the victim were still unknown, but after seeing the scene of the incident officers had reason to suspect they were serious.
A neighbour passing by gave officers a general direction the accused and victim had fled, which confirmed they were likely together. Outside the apartment building, a shoeprint and blood in the snow gave officers something to follow.
Several officers followed on foot, while others circled the area in their patrol vehicles hoping they could quickly find and assist the victim of a stabbing.
Cases of domestic violence, due to their complicated nature, can be taxing on a police service’s frontline. A Uniform Patrol officer can be taken off the road for hours after responding to a single call.
In one case Friday night, hours before the north-side stabbing would be reported, two officers were held at a domestic call for more than three hours.
The cases are also common for the service, and before Unit B’s Friday night would conclude their officers would respond to nine reported cases of domestic violence.
In 2018 the Thunder Bay Police Service responded to 3,391 calls for service involving family violence. Not every call was as elaborate as a stabbing where victim and accused had fled together, but every incident comes with its own unique set of challenges for investigators.
As a response to the prevalence and complexities of domestic violence, the Thunder Bay Police Service established the Domestic Violence Unit in 2013. The DVU works within the service’s Criminal Investigations Branch and features investigators who are trained for and dedicated to investigating cases of family violence.
Det.-Cst. Erin Lambert is one of those investigators.
“We’re here to assist the officers on the road,” Det.-Cst. Lambert said. “A domestic violence arrest file can take an officer up to three hours in paperwork. So if we’re available we can take over the investigation at any point.”
Cases of domestic violence come with unique paperwork requirements, like the Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment (ODARA) and the Domestic Violence Risk Management Report (DVRMR).
A DVU investigator can complete the reports, and as an additional service for the courts can score the ODARA report to help determine the likelihood an accused will re-offend.
Relieving the pressure domestic cases puts on uniform patrol is one function of the DVU, but another is providing a fuller service to victims.
The DVU works with a variety of third-party agencies that victims can be referred to. In addition to offering referrals, these third-party agencies can act as liaisons with the police service on behalf of the victim or even reach out for advice on how to best help their clients.
“We’re here to assist the victims and that’s a huge part of our job,” said Det.-Cst. Lambert. “Victims have our number and can call us directly, if it’s a non-emergency situation, and we can deal with it. We have lots of resources we can refer them to, like counseling.”
The ability and knowledge to refer gives the DVU an effective and unique tool to combat domestic violence issues beyond what is expected of them as police officers. For example: Emotional abuse, not a crime according to the Criminal Code of Canada, is still something DVU investigators are equipped to address through these referrals.
Bringing justice to victims through convictions is an important function of the DVU, but assisting victims in any way they can is the ultimate goal.
Back to the north side of the city on Saturday morning, near Pearl and Court Streets, Unit B officers continued following a victim’s footprints in the snow.
They found themselves in an area recently heavily populated by bar-goers heading home after last call, which polluted the snowy trail with more fresh footprints. Despite this new challenge officers occasionally found the bootprint they recognized, and a drop of blood to confirm it was the one they were following all along.
Another 10 minutes of searching later, officers finally caught up with their victim and accused a few blocks away from the original incident.
The victim claimed their injuries were accidental and caused by broken glass. Both victim and accused denied being the subjects of the call for service that brought officers to the area. The investigation revealed otherwise.
It appeared at this point, as Sgt. Carlucci had said about these cases, there was more to the story. He and his Unit B officers would have to continue to use all of their investigative tools to uncover it.
Domestic Violence Unit investigators rely heavily on the observations of frontline officers. Officers with Uniform Patrol B would have to do their best to ensure that, if this case were handed over to DVU, it would be done so cleanly.
With the experience, dedication and professionalism of his unit’s officers, Sgt. Carlucci had no doubts that would be the case.
“If you look at any successful investigation you’ll see that everything was handled correctly from the start,” he added.
