An RCMP spokesperson says he’s never seen so many women murdered due to intimate partner violence in such a short time.
Dan Morrow, the superintendent of the Nova Scotia RCMP, says they prioritize these cases like a hospital triage.
“The more severe, [the] more jeopardy there is for serious harm to a person, we will prioritize the response. And intimate partner violence concerns or calls for service are always prioritized as number one,” says Morrow.
Six women, and one woman’s father, have been killed by men since October. Each woman was killed by a man with whom she had a relationship.
Some of the men who committed the crimes had previous run-ins with the law, according to Morrow, but “not necessarily associated to the relationship that the people were in.” He says some of the other men had no interaction with police at all.
The RCMP’s focus is more narrow, he says, and largely on law enforcement.
When people ask how to improve service delivery to prevent intimate partner violence, that deals with the issues before it reaches the police realm, says Morrow.
“We investigate intimate partner violence concerns, because we have the public safety mandate, and our job is to ensure that criminal investigations are conducted appropriately and that victims are provided support mechanisms to some of the external stakeholders,” he says.
He says police are in the final hiring stages to add two more civilian case workers to their team, bringing the total to five. He says the case workers are “heavily engaged” with outside organizations, like the Transition House Association of Nova Scotia.
They also reach out to external organizations when cases of intimate partner violence reach a certain risk threshold. Morrow says they use an assessment tool to evaluate the risk level of calls related to intimate partner violence. When it reaches that threshold, it activates the high risk protocol. Then, the case workers coordinate with groups like the Transition House Association of Nova Scotia to make sure there’s enough safety planning for the survivor, who may be trying to leave a dangerous situation.
The case workers are also working with the Transition House Association of Nova Scotia on an education campaign to rollout across the province to help reduce the stigma around intimate partner violence.
Several advocacy groups have said it’s important to work to remove that stigma.
Morrow says that it can sometimes take up to 30 incidents of violence before a survivor reaches out to police.
It can be even more difficult in rural areas, as well, he says.
“I know from past personal experience as an officer, it can be quite hard for a person to call the police because they’re actually fearful or they have that stigma associated. ‘Oh, my goodness, there’s a police officer rolling up to my house. Now my neighbors know that I called the police,'” says Morrow.
He says the police will work with people to find the safest place to meet.
If you or someone you know is experiencing intimate partner violence, you can call 211 to be connected to resources or visit their website.
