Proceed with cases of domestic violence

WOMEN, STAND UP!

Assistant Commissioner of Police Ekron Lockhart has made an appeal to the women of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, to take a stand and proceed with cases of domestic violence, if there is to be a decrease in, or an end to these incidents which result in death.{{more}}

He also made a call for family services and counseling agencies to come on board and assist with dealing with domestic abuse.

Of the 21 killings recorded so far this year, eight of these: seven women and one man, have been the direct result of domestic incidents.

Lockhart made his appeal at a press conference last week, where he encouraged women who may have made complaints against their spouses, to carry through with the proceedings, in an effort to curb the rate of violence.

He said that it is frustrating that police would go the distance to prosecute a case, and women are unwilling to proceed with the case.

He used the recent incident at Brighton where Ann Marie Ledger was killed, as an example of a case which was not carried to its full extent.

Commissioner of Police Bertie Pompey added to the discussion, saying that it is frustrating that some persons request that no further action be taken in domestic abuse cases.

He lamented the loss of the “condoning a felony” offence, where a person who withdrew a claim was charged with a crime. He also believes that such persons be penalized for the waste of police resources.

When informed by one reporter of instances where reports are made to police and no action is taken, the acting commissioner indicated that this is an exception rather than the norm; officers are instructed to entertain EVERY report of domestic violence and any officer failing to do so, could be charged with misconduct or neglect of duty.

According to Superintendent of Police Artis Davis, over 200 frontline officers have been trained to deal with issues relating to domestic incidents and legislature is in place to deal with offenders, therefore persons should not be reluctant to report and proceed with these cases.

The number of domestic deaths so far this year has outnumbered the total amount of similar deaths in 2004, 2005 and 2006 combined.