*1.5* CPEs: The OPP Victim Support Model

In 2020 the OPP adopted a Framework for a Victim-Centred Approach to ensure a comprehensive, consistent, and structured approach to enhancing programs, policies and processes to better assist and understand the needs of victims/survivors. The inception of the Victim-Centred Approach Team and the Victim Specialist Program ensures victims are aware of, and can access their rights, and that they are supported throughout the criminal justice process. This presentation will provide an overview of the OPP’s Framework for a Victim-Centred Approach and those processes which ensure the OPP are meeting not only their legal obligations as they relate to victims/survivors (inclusive of victims of fraud), but also their moral and ethical obligations by recognizing and respecting an individual’s fundamental human rights.

OUR SPEAKER

Shauna Marshall: Staff Sergeant, Program Manager
Victim-Centred Approach Team
Crime Prevention & Community Support Bureau, Ontario Provincial Police

Shauna has been a member of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) since 1998 and began her career as a front-line general law enforcement officer in Arnprior, Ontario. In 2006, Shauna transitioned from front-line duties to a specialized role and became a certified Forensic Identification Officer servicing the central areas of Eastern Ontario, where she later promoted to Sergeant of the Unit. Working within this specialized field and amongst trauma on a day-to-day basis for over a decade, Shauna became acutely aware of the impact on mental health within the policing community and actively sought out opportunities to support fellow officers through education and awareness, specifically relating to operational stress injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder. In 2019, given her dedication to mental health and having a trauma-informed approach as it relates to policing in general, Shauna joined then Deputy Director Maria McDonald (Victim Support Strategy Lead, Victim-Centred Approach Team, OPP) to support the inception of the OPP's Framework for a Victim-Centred Approach and the creation of the Victim Specialist Program. Shauna is currently the Program Manger for the Victim-Centred Approach Team, which oversees the Victim Specialist Program, a Program which supports front-line investigations within 10 Detachments and the OPP’s Criminal Investigation Branch.

Shauna’s role within the Victim-Centred Approach Team further supports the implementation of a victim-centred approach to mass casualty and extreme events through the engagement of her expertise and the Victim Specialist Program, when investigations require, throughout Ontario. Shauna is a member of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police (CACP) National Working Group supporting Victims of Terrorism and Mass Casualty. Within this role, Shauna facilitated the development of National Job Specifications for the Victim Specialist/Family Liaison and coinciding Management roles and is also one of the Design and Development Leads for the CACP NWG Victim Specialist Workshop: Piloting a Canadian Victim Response Framework for Terrorism, Mass Violence and Mass Casualty Events.