As calls intensify for improved law enforcement response to the growing concern surrounding drink tampering, Halifax Regional Police remains firm in its decision not to formally collect data on suspected incidents.
The Coast reported on a number of cases in which women believed they were drugged in north-end bars last spring. All told similar stories: finding themselves blacking out, losing physical capacity after having only a few drinks over many hours.
At the time, acting HRP media spokesperson Carol MacIsaac told the Coast the police track all reported suspected incidents.
”We have analysts assigned, crime analysts. So for sure if we were seeing any trends, any increase being reported to us, then they would recognize that.”
This week, Canadian Press reported on freedom of information documents it obtained showing the opposite.
“That’s a true statement,” confirms Chris Giacomantonio, HRP research coordinator. “ We don’t have a single data category that is drink-tampering.”
Several jurisdictions across the country do track suspected incidents of drugged drinks, though it often falls under a broader category.
Toronto Police Service collects data related to the criminal code: tracking the two charges of Administering Drug for Sex and Administering (a) Noxious Substance, says TPS communications spokesperson Meaghan Gray.
“However, please note that it includes all the ways a drug could be administered and does not account for the place the drug was administered.”
For this reason, Giacomantonio says he doesn’t believe inputting data from such cases in Halifax would make an impact.
“I’m not saying it’s useless, “ Giacomantonio says of the TPS data policy, “But it doesn’t answer the questions: What is the pattern of occurrence of this problem? Is it up or down? Where does it happen? To whom does it happen? It isn’t answered by that data.”
Giacomantonio says it isn’t as simple as flagging a particular bar, or a date on the calendar.
“Every data category requires training, documentation and policy and you have to be confident you’re getting it right.”
Giacomantonio says by adding data categories in cases like this, you run the risk of over or under-reporting an issue.
“Having bad data can be worse than having no data.”
Giacomantonio is quick to point out that just because the police force isn’t collecting “quantitative data” on the reported incidents, doesn’t mean they aren’t aware of it—from street level policing all the way up the chain of command.
“[It] doesn’t mean we aren’t looking at every case,” he says. “ It doesn’t mean we don’t believe it it’s happening.”
But he says if an additional category was added to specifically track drink tampering, it could potentially place the integrity of the rest of the body of data at risk.
“If we were to put specific flags for every kind of thing we want to track systematically, we would have too much information and it would create data reliability issues.”
Additionally, Giacomantonio says the need to track this specific issue hasn’t arisen.
“So far, we haven’t seen at a local or national level information that suggests this would require its own data category.”
Some government justice critics disagree. Though HRP is managed through the municipal government, provincial politicians are weighing in on the subject.
“I wish that we were tracking,” says Karla MacFarlane, interim leader for the provincial Progressive Conservative party, who says her “jaw dropped” when she heard that police do not formally track data surrounding suspected drugged drinks.
MacFarlane says the issue is of specific significance in Halifax because of its annual influx of young students along with the university population.
“There are individuals out there who are perpetrators, who are grooming and who are looking for the most vulnerable.”
MacFarlane says she can understand why some in the public might be hesitant to place trust in the police following the “miscommunication” surrounding data collection.
“This will not go away until we have something solid we can trust,” MacFarlane says, who suggests bringing together the Justice and Health departments, along with law enforcement and community stakeholders, including bar owners, to discuss the problem and brainstorm solutions.
NDP justice critic Claudia Chender says the problem of inadequate data collection is something she’s confronted in her work at the legislature. Though the province isn’t responsible for overseeing municipal policing, Chender says she does see a parallel.
“If we had a good data and understanding about the frequency and patterns of these incidents, then we would be in a position to address it. And right now we aren’t.”
Chender says the missing ingredient is good data.
“Our law enforcement, our health care systems, our advocates are acting in the dark. Because we don’t know. We can’t act appropriately, we can’t respond clearly without that information.”
Meanwhile, the province’s chief medical officer of health is offering advice.
“We know drink tampering is happening in Halifax,” says Robert Strang. But he cautions that tracking won’t necessarily lead to change.
“Tracking the number of incidents isn’t going to capture them all or prevent it from happening, but being aware will. Consume alcohol in moderation, know what you are drinking, protect your drink and don’t accept drinks from others.”
Chender acknowledges the immediacy in Strang’s advice—that he is concerned with protecting vulnerable people “in the short term,” but adds she can understand why the suggestion—that the solution will come from women watching their drinks more carefully—may not sit well with everyone.
“Systemically, people are offended by that message and rightfully so.”
Chender says this is a public health issue, and it’s one that will ultimately be achieved through the slow work of cultural change, addressing underlying issues of misogyny and victim-blaming.
“[There is] a whole behaviour change that’s required—not just women watching their drink.”
Meanwhile, Giacomantonio says just because HRP isn’t formally collecting data now, doesn’t mean it won’t in the future. But he says extra resources and overtime would be required to do it properly.
“The total number of suspected and known cases would require reading through hundreds of files, for indications of drink tampering. That would take a lot of work to get data we feel comfortable putting into the world.
“We don’t want to put data that could be misleading to the public.”
Meanwhile, the Department of Justice has added drug tampering to the agenda for the next meeting with the Nova Scotia Chiefs of Police drug committee.
This article appears in Jun 14-20, 2018.
Goodness – is the police spokesperson saying there is such a thing as “too much data?” As someone who ran the NS component of the Federal Homelessness Database, I take issue with that. I will say that it is vitally important that a database has a clearly defined data dictionary. With that and good training for those entering data, there is not much you cannot capture. And this data is extremely important.
Serve and protect. Folks, you have to realize that means women too. Get over it, get on it. We are tired of it.