Police officers’ training in video recorded interviews ends today

Twenty-four police officers should now be better able to use video recorded interviews of vulnerable witnesses, thanks to a one-week training course funded by the British High Commission.{{more}}

The training course, which began on January 6, will end today, February 17.

The two trainers from the Untied Kingdom, who trained the officers in relation to the Witness Special Measure Act, were funded by the British High Commission.

The Witness Special Measure Act, which was passed in Parliament on December 2, 2013, provides for an application to be made to the Court for a witness anonymity order and provides for special measures to be given in appropriate cases. These special measures include the giving of evidence by live link, video recorded evidence, the taking of evidence from outside of St Vincent and the Grenadines and prohibiting the defendant in certain cases from personally cross-examining a particular witness.

Dan Suter, criminal justice advisor to the Eastern Caribbean at the British High Commission in Barbados, explained that the new Act allows for video interviews for vulnerable witnesses, those who might be in fear of giving evidence or those who have been intimidated.

“That evidence will then be used as their statement when they go to court. So it is there to try and assist those witnesses who may be frightened about going to court,” Suter added.

Suter said rather than having witness protection taking people out of the jurisdiction, which is expensive, the act offers other ways to protect witnesses.

“There is a similar act in Dominica. This is the second type of act in the region and certainly everybody else in the Caribbean is looking to how St Vincent can make it effective… I know they will. So, as we can see, St Vincent leads the fight against crime,” he said.(KW)