All words, no action: Vancouver woman condemns police train assault investigation
“The police lied to me.”
A woman is speaking out over a terrifying SkyTrain trip and the response she received when she reported it to police. In an interview with Daily Hive, Carissa Konesky said she feels let down.
Konesky said it’s been a year since she experienced an assault onboard the Canada Line, which left her hurt — not only physically but mentally — which she continues to work through today.
The 28-year-old was standing with her suitcase and her back against the train’s doors on a trip home from the airport.
As the train approached Oakridge-41st Avenue Station, she noticed a man in a group of three standing up and walking toward her.
“He was quite far away from me, and he started stumbling and coming towards me… which was super weird and random because it was a really full SkyTrain. So, I don’t know why he chose me.
“Then he stumbled towards me and pressed himself against… my stomach and chest,” she said. “I was slammed against the glass.”
Despite yelling for help, Konesky said, “Nobody came … nobody asked if I was okay or anything, and it was a completely full SkyTrain.”
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Eventually, the man was pulled off Konesky by one of the men he was sitting with before, she said. Konesky said he also spilled a bottle of Gatorade over her suitcase.
“I was in shock,” she said. While she was panicking, Konesky said she managed to make it to Waterfront Station, where she reported the assault to police.
From optimistic to pessimistic
Metro Vancouver Transit Police confirmed officers responded to the report of a possible assault on March 18, 2023, at around 10 pm. Police told Daily Hive that the man, who may have been intoxicated, stumbled into Konesky, “his shoulder making contact with her chest.”
“The man apologized, and his friend helped him regain his balance,” Transit Police said. Konesky told Daily Hive that the man did not apologize.
At the time, Konesky was appreciative of the officers who helped her but said she was saddened to learn there was not enough evidence to recommend charges for the man who assaulted her.
Carissa Konesky is speaking out about a frightening SkyTrain trip, and the police response that she said felt like a letdown.
Since reporting her assault, she told me she felt lied to and has more questions about passenger safety.
"It was pretty much like a losing battle." https://t.co/JFCaxeMfaQ— Nikitha Martins (@nikitha_martins) April 9, 2024
She said an officer told her there was no camera onboard the Canada Line train she was riding, but there was a camera outside the train, and she hoped it would support her story.
The camera was at Oakridge—41st Station, and Konesky said it took Transit Police a few weeks to access the footage. When they did, officers were able to see a picture of a man she described, but “they said it was all grainy, and they couldn’t make out anyone’s face.”
“I’m like, ‘Okay, that’s really pointless for a security camera.'”
Without security cameras or witnesses coming forward, the frequent transit user said reporting her assault on the Canada Line felt like a “losing battle.”
However, TransLink confirmed that CCTV cameras have been onboard all Canada Line trains since mid-2021. When Daily Hive looked, we found two cameras on each train: one near the centre door of each car, with one pointing each way. This is a different message from what Konesky was told.
“I feel lied to,” she said when Daily Hive spoke with her Thursday after confirming that the trains are equipped with cameras. Konesky said she feels let down that investigators didn’t exhaust all possibilities for justice despite being told by police she did everything right.
“This young woman, brave young woman, did all the right things… She felt unsafe, she found police officers, she reported it. And that’s what we really want people to do. Regardless of the outcome,” Const. Amanda Steed said.
Konesky said, “It feels like our safety isn’t a top priority.”
Metro Vancouver Transit Police
Daily Hive asked police why the onboard camera footage from the train Konesky was riding at the time of her alleged assault was not obtained. In response, police said, “The investigator in this particular case determined that the totality of the evidence failed to meet the threshold for criminal charges; therefore, ordering onboard CCTV was not necessary,” an email statement reads.
Police added that obtaining onboard camera footage “is a different, and more difficult, process vs. obtaining station footage.”
That response doesn’t sit well with Konesky.
“I hear about things happening on the SkyTrain all the time… I think it’s getting worse in our city and I don’t know… why obtaining that footage would be so difficult because the whole point would be to keep people safe,” Konesky responded.
Closure out of reach
Without sufficient evidence, Konesky said she was not able to find closure for her assault.
Transit Police’s spokesperson describes Konesky’s case as “unique” because there was not enough evidence to meet the threshold for criminal charges. However, she emphasized that Konesky’s case did not close because of a lack of cameras.
“One of the things that you need in a file is… to be able to show intent,” Steed explained. “And in [Konesky’s] particular case, the investigator believes that given all of the circumstances, that suspect did not have the intent to assault her. And that’s where the investigation was concluded.”
While it’s just one tool in the toolbox, Steed told Daily Hive that CCTV footage has helped with other investigations.
“The amount of times that [CCTV footage] has been helpful in an investigation are far greater than when it hasn’t been helpful,” she said.
However, she said having even the clearest image of a suspect also has its caveats. Unless officers have general knowledge of who a suspect is, police have to rely heavily on the public to identify a suspect.
“This impacted my life so much”
Since the incident last year, riding the train has not been the same for Konesky.
“That whole incident impacted me so much,” she said.
After her encounter with the stranger, she took six weeks of leave off work and visited a hospital after experiencing whiplash and pain in her chest.
“This impacted my life so much,” she said. “The anxiety and the mental impact has been difficult, and it’s not just affected me, it’s affected my family.”
Carissa Konesky
While there weren’t charges recommended, Steed said Konesky’s report was still impactful.
“In her specific case, charges weren’t recommended. But that doesn’t mean… the police don’t care,” Steed said. “We do care. We take every single one of these investigations very seriously.”
With reports like Konesky’s, Steed said, police are able to create a better idea of where to deploy officers and identify “problem areas.”
In response to Steed’s call for victims to continue coming forward, Konesky said, “That just feels like words.”
“It doesn’t feel like there’s any actions behind it,” she said.
Konesky questions the police’s response, adding, “I don’t understand what they think assault means?”
“Do you have to be completely punched in the face?… He did touch me. It doesn’t matter what they think they saw. I think it’s assault if it’s not welcomed touching.”
Victims’ advocates say the system needs to change
Salal Sexual Violence Support Centre‘s executive director, Dalya Israel, expressed the experience for many survivors is that systems they expect to protect them let them down “even more so sometimes than the assault itself.”
“Often, it feels like your autonomy is being taken away again,” Israel said. “Details are not being shared with you, or decisions are being made about your case that you’re not aware of. You might be the last to know because of investigative techniques. And those impacts are so real for people. And they… create compounding traumas.”
Regardless of why police can or can’t disclose details in a victim’s case, Israel suggests that “power is being taken away from [victims] again.”
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