Vancouver police officer sees Cambodia war crimes assignment as pinnacle of career

 

A young Cambodian woman looks at a display of skulls of people killed during the Pol Pot regime in the late 1970s.

Photograph by: Omar Havana , Getty Images

BY DAN FUMANO AND FRANK LUBA, THE PROVINCE FEBRUARY 19, 2015

A Vancouver police officer in Cambodia to investigate war crimes considers the assignment to be the pinnacle of her career.

Det. Const. A.J. Benefield is going into her 17th year with the Vancouver Police Department and for the last three years has been working with the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit, a joint task force of municipal officers and the RCMP investigating organized crime.

“It focuses on gangs, drugs and violence,” explained Benefield before she left last month.

That kind of experience will be particularly useful on her yearlong deployment.

Benefield is working with two other Canadian policewomen — Ottawa Police Staff Sgt. Isobel Granger and RCMP Cpl. Bailey Gilarowski — as part of a select international team of investigators.

Over the next year, they will operate under the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), joining Cambodian and international personnel investigating genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes allegedly committed under the Khmer Rouge regime between 1975 and 1979.

At least 1.7 million people are believed to have died from torture, starvation, execution and forced labour during that period, according to the ECCC.

Among the many crimes perpetrated were forced marriages and sexual assault, which will be part of the focus for Benefield and her female colleagues.

“It may be that they (women) would be more comfortable telling their stories to a female,” said Benefield.

Being part of the investigation team is an honour.

“I’m definitely looking forward to it,” said Benefield, who has never been to Southeast Asia. “Am I nervous? Of course.

“For me, this is ultimately the pinnacle of my professional career,” she said. “As an investigator, this will allow me to use my skills ... to make a difference on an international level.

“On a personal level, it’s an opportunity to see a part of the world that I probably wouldn’t have gone to otherwise.”

There are complications because Benefield is married and has two children, aged just eight and nine years.

“I have a very, very supportive husband,” she said. “My husband used to play professional sports so we’re used to being apart from each other.”

Her husband Daved Benefield played in the CFL with Ottawa, B.C. and Saskatchewan, and in the NFL with San Francisco.

She explained to her kids that, like their dad, she’s going to be away for work.

But Daved and the kids will visit her.

“They’re excited for me, they really are,” said Benefield. “They’re proud of their mom.

“I think it’s a great example for my daughter. I really want my daughter to see that it’s important as a female to have it all — to be able to have a family and a marriage and a career and to always strive for the most you can.”

Before leaving for the Cambodian assignment, Benefield, Gilarowksi and Granger received specialized training in Ottawa, said Martine Courage, spokeswoman with the RCMP’s International Policing Development office.

The sessions included education on the culture and geopolitics of Cambodia, first aid training, and instruction on dealing with landmines. The officers also met with a Cambodian survivor of the Khmer Rouge.

This deployment represents the first time Canada has sent police to Cambodia in this capacity, Courage said.

“It’s a very unique and interesting opportunity, given that they’re going to go and investigate war crimes from 30 years ago,” she said, adding that the three Canadian women “are up to the challenge. These are very experienced investigators.”