Jane Doe is raped after Toronto police fail to warn her that a serial rapist, later to be known as the “balcony rapist”, was targeting women in a specific neighbourhood. Decision is a precedent setting case for two reasons. Firstly, court finds police breached s. 15 charter rights of Jane Doe and discriminated against her based on gender. Police did not act in accordance with their statutory duty to project the public from criminal activity and they carried out their duty in a manner that discriminated based on gender. Police believed rape myths. Police “adopted a policy not to warn her because of a stereotypical discriminatory belief that as a woman she and others like her would become hysterical and panic and scare off an attacker, among others” (Par 192) Secondly, the court held that liability of the police extends to victims of crime. Police failed in their duty of care to protect Jane Doe. Police do not have a general duty to all victims of crime, but there is sufficient proximity of police to Jane Doe. Police “were aware of a specific threat or risk to a specific group of women and they did nothing to warn those women of the danger they were in, nor did they take any measures to protect them.” (par 162) Although a lower court decision, the essential findings of the case have been upheld by higher courts including the Supreme Court in the Hill v Hamilton Police case (para 125-135).

This case finally establishes that police across Canada can be sued for negligent investigation. Prior to this decision, some provinces had not allowed actions against police for negligence. Police conduct during an investigation should be measured against the standard of how a reasonable officer in like circumstances would have acted. The standard of care of a reasonable police officer in similar circumstances should be applied in a manner that gives due recognition to the discretion inherent in police investigation. This standard is flexible, covers all aspects of investigatory police work, and is reinforced by the nature and importance of police investigation. In this case, considering practices at the time, police are found to have meets the standard of a reasonable officer in similar circumstances.