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www.insidehalton.com |OAKVILLE BEAVER |Thursday, June 8, 2017 |40 Sexual assault review report due back this month by Nathan Howes Oakville Beaver Staff The Halton Regional Police Services Board will receive a report on its ongoing review of the agency' s sexual assault investigations next month. Media coverage of Halton and other police services' handling of sexual assault cases earlier this year, as well as Halton police service' s own investigation, led the local board to conduct its own review into the matter. A high rate (30 per cent) of `unfounded' sexual assaults in Halton was recently revealed in a Globe and Mail report, which prompted the internal police audit of the handling of sexual assault cases in Halton in 2016. The Province then stepped in and asked all Ontario police services boards, including that in Halton, to conduct their own reviews. The direction was given in a letter from the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services to the boards. An update on the review was provided at the boards monthly meeting Thursday, May 25. The Halton review is being led by Julie Moscato, police services board executive director, who is consulting with local community and justice partners on the inquiry, leading to a report that will be submitted to the board at, or prior to, its June 15 meeting. In addition to members of various Halton police units, the review team includes representatives from Sexual Assault & Violence Intervention Services of Halton, the Halton Violence Prevention Council, Thrive Counselling, Halton Women' s Centre, Nina's Place, Halton Womens Place, the Ministry of the Attorney General (Regional Sexual Violence Crown, Central West Region) and Advancement of Women Halton. ^ H a lto n h alto n .ca (| 311 n e c in ii REGION NOTICE OF PUBLIC IN FO RM ATIO N CENTRE S tan d b y Pow er a t th e O a k v ille W a te r P u rificatio n P lan t Town o f O a k v ille B a c k g ro u n d Halton Region completed a Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (Class EA) Study for the purpose of increasing the Oakville Water Purification Plant (WPP) capacity from 109 million litres per day (ML/d) to 130 ML/d in November, 2016. Halton Region also undertook a separate, stand-alone study considering the additional risk to security of water supply related to primary power interruptions. The Study consisted of a system-wide risk assessment to determine the need to implement a standby power system at the Oakville WPP. A Public Information Centre (PIC) was held on June 9, 2016 for the Class EA. Additional information on the stand-alone standby power system was presented at the same time. The recommendation presented at the PIC was to implement some form of standby power to address the risk of customers being out of service due to short-term loss of power, which could include the use of a portable generator, a service agreement or a permanent on-site solution. T h e P r e fe r r e d S o lu t io n The preferred solution is to install a permanent on-site generator. This option provides reliability and redundancy of power as well as security of the water supply. The preferred solution is to install the generator within the footprint of an existing building on-site. This option will limit the requirements for excavation, reduce construction traffic and will be quieter and less visible for the community over the long term when compared to an outdoor installation. P u b lic In f o r m a t io n C e n tr e A Public Information Centre is planned to allow the public and interested stakeholders to learn more about the project. Representatives from Halton Region will be in attendance to answer any questions you may have. D ate: Tim e: Location: The review team met twice this month to roll out plans for the examination. At the inaugural gathering May 9, Moscato provided contextual information for the review and outlined key research themes and draft-suggested recommendations. Superintendent Anthony Odoardi, Commander of Halton police' s Child Abuse and Sexual Assault (CASA) unit, provided an overview of its policies and procedures on sexual assault investigations. The group discussed the importance of ensuring the voices of sexual assault survivors are heard as part of this review, stated in a report given to the board. A second meeting was held May 24 to discuss recommendations it wants to submit to the board, as well as a plan to submit them in a report to it for theJune meeting. The team also wants to engage sexual assault survivors as part of the review and will soon seek their feedback. Moscato meeting with Pam Damoff Oakville North-Burlington MP Pam Damoff, who sits on the Standing Committee for the Status of Women as vice-chair, will be meeting with Moscato on Thursday, July 6 to discuss the forthcoming report and the board's review. The Standing Committee for the Status of Women recently tabled a report on violence against young women and girls, part of which focuses on the challenges sexual assault survivors face when reporting to police. Sexual assault learning forum C o m m e n ts If you are unable to attend the PIC and would like to provide comments, please forward them by Friday, June 30, 2017 to either of the project team members listed below: M a rk Connell, P. Eng. D aniel B erringer, P.Eng. Project Manager Halton Region 1151 Bronte Road Oakville, ON L6M3L1 Phone: 905 825-6000 ext. 7322 E-mail: mark.connell@halton.ca Project Manager GHDInc. 435 King Street. Waterloo, ON N2V1C2 Phone: 519 884-0510 ext. 7228 E-mail: daniel.berringer@ghd.com Wednesday, June 21, 2017 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. St. James Elementary School (Gymnasium) 255 Morden Road, Oakville, ON Please contact us, as soon as possible, if you have any accessibility needs at Halton Region events or meetings. At its April meeting, the services board moved forward with plans for a forum on the issue, titled Sexual Assault: Science, Collaboration and the Provision of Optimal Victim Support, which will be held Wednesday, June 21 at the Harbour Banquet Centre, 2340 Ontario St., from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The gathering is focused for police and victim advocates and is expected to include information on Ontario advocate case reviews, trauma-informed policing and a case-review model that originated, and has been successfully used, in Philadelphia, according to a recent board report. As of May 16, 54 people have indicated they would like to attend, including police officers, victim advocate agencies, security guards and community members. The registration deadline is Tuesday, June 6. Anyone interested in registering for the forum can email Julie Moscato, HRPS Board executive director, at julie. moscato@haltonpolice.ca.