– $296.6M spent on remodelling stations to accommodate victims

HOME AFFAIRS Minister Clement Rohee made it clear to members of the Guyana Police Force that the Ministry of Home Affairs is not one hundred percent satisfied that more is being done at the level of the police stations in dealing with cases of domestic violence.Rohee said that while it is understood that the handling of domestic violence can be difficult, on some occasions, he is of the view that sufficient training has been provided to members of the Guyana Police Force to respond and deal with the reports of domestic violence.
He spoke of the investment by the Government of Guyana through the Ministry of Home Affairs where eighteen police stations have been remodelled under the Citizen Security Programme to deal with this issue.
The total cost of the investment, Rohee recalled, is a whopping $296.6M.
The minister made the comment recently while addressing senior and junior ranks of the Force at the launching of a training workshop which also catered for other representatives of the Joint Services.

A key feature of the remodelling of the police stations was the construction of specially prepared rooms for victims of domestic violence to make their report in a comfortable, confidential and user-friendly environment.

According to the Minister of Home Affairs, a key feature of the remodelling of the police stations was the construction of specially prepared rooms for victims of domestic violence to make their report in a comfortable, confidential and user-friendly environment.
Prior to the remodelling of the police stations, persons who visited the stations to make reports of domestic violence were forced to make those reports at the front desk in the presence of members of the public.
As part of the investment by the Government in creating these special interviewing rooms under the CSP, there was special and expert training provided to several police officers in receiving and acting on the reports of persons affected by domestic violence.
Rohee also encouraged the police officers to ensure that members of the public, particularly those who are victims of intrafamilial violence, get value for the money that the government invested in the programme.
He pointed to statistics collected by his ministry indicating that domestic violence reports were on an average of 4,825 annually over the past five years.
The minister went on to say that what has also been proven is that for 2011, in only three out of every ten reports of domestic violence were the offenders charged. In 2012, the data indicated that in five out of ten reported cases of domestic violence were the offenders charged while for 2013 in six out of every ten reported cases were the offenders charged.
This, Rohee said, proves that increased charges for offenders of domestic violence would result in the decline in numbers of the offences being reported.

FIRM POLICE RESPONSE
He said that while recognising there may be many other variables which may be responsible for the ratings, the ministry was told that when the police are firm in their response to domestic violence it helps in the reduction in the proliferation of the offence.
Rohee added that it sends a very clear signal that domestic violence and abuse will not be condoned at any level of the Guyana Police Force.

(By Leroy Smith )