Members of the Medicine Hat Police Family Crime Unit provided the police commission an update Wednesday highlighting that the unit investigated 94 files and conducted 66 child forensic interviews in 2023.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
bmiller@medicinehatnews.com
Members of the police commission on Wednesday heard that in 2023 the Medicine Hat Police Family Crimes Unit handled 94 files involving children, leading to 21 charges.
The commission received a 30-minute presentation on the small unit that works with the Criminal Investigation Section and collaborates with Child and Family Services to investigate matters involving kids.
“A lot of the calls that the Family Crimes Unit deals with don’t come through traditional methods, through 911 or the non-emergency line,” explained Insp. Joe West. “They might come in through victims assistance, they come in a number of different ways.”
Sgt. Darryl Hubich, who leads the Family Crimes Unit, explained the need for specialized forensic training when interviewing children, and told the commission that all members of the Medicine Hat unit have been trained to conduct Child Forensic interviews by the National Child Advocacy Centre in Alabama.
In 2023, the unit conducted 66 child forensic interviews using a method recognized by courts if conducted appropriately. The video of the interview can be entered in court as the child’s statement. This can reduce or eliminate the need for a child to testify in court in person.
Hubich explained that it is extremely important for children to feel comfortable enough to tell officers their story, achieved easier thanks to two facility dogs, Athena and Glory.
“There’s generally just a big relief … when a child sees a dog, we tend to bring the dogs with us into interviews,” said Hubich.
In January 2023 the police service began conducting all child forensic interviews at Sanare Centre, which runs a child advocacy centre, to provide a safe space supported by caregivers for children and youth who experience trauma.
“They fill that middle piece between the interview and the conclusion of any criminal matter,” said Hubich. “They can offer counselling, programming, support with the community, things like that that we weren’t able to offer before strictly through the police service.
“From my perspective it’s actually been really worthwhile to have that relationship. We all get into this work for the same purpose and we want to make sure that what we do at the front end is picked up and carried on throughout. Because a victim maybe was victimized one time, it doesn’t mean that they’re just fixed when charges are laid, so this goes a long way to supporting that.”
Hubich says the number of cases the Family Crimes Unit receives has been relatively static since 2022, and he doesn’t believe 2024 has seen a large increase in file numbers.
