New top cop tackles domestic violence! To seek help from UK
Newly-installed Police Commissioner, Mark Collins has taken an active interest in tackling domestic abuse — an offence believed to be somewhat prevalent in the British Virgin Islands.
Having only been in the post a little more than a month, the top cop has already had meetings with the Governor’s Office and local stakeholders to ‘look at the territory’s Domestic Violence Action Plan’.
Some of these stakeholders include the Family Juvenile Unit and ‘a team of partner agencies’.
“We’re looking at what the priorities are, what the mechanisms are for supporting people that are suffering from domestic abuse,” said the Commissioner who added that the police will be seeking external assistance to bolster their efforts.
“To take it one step further, we’re also looking to do some work with the Metropolitan Police in the UK and some other work from the Camden local authority in London because they are seen as world leaders in dealing with domestic abuse,” Collins further told members of the media at a recent press conference.
The Commissioner made it clear that the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force has a “zero-tolerance approach” to domestic violence and will be “looking for arrests to be made and support to be given to victims”.
In the latest reported cases of domestic violence locally, the police arrested and charged 23-year-old Towers, West End resident, Shawnee Sampson, for Cruelty to Child. She was granted $2,000 police bail ahead of her appearance before the Magistrate’s Court on June 25.
Just last week in an unrelated incident, a son reportedly stabbed his dad in the gut. It is unclear whether the son is a minor but police said they had taken him into custody for wounding.
Some of these stakeholders include the Family Juvenile Unit and ‘a team of partner agencies’.
“We’re looking at what the priorities are, what the mechanisms are for supporting people that are suffering from domestic abuse,” said the Commissioner who added that the police will be seeking external assistance to bolster their efforts.
“To take it one step further, we’re also looking to do some work with the Metropolitan Police in the UK and some other work from the Camden local authority in London because they are seen as world leaders in dealing with domestic abuse,” Collins further told members of the media at a recent press conference.
The Commissioner made it clear that the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force has a “zero-tolerance approach” to domestic violence and will be “looking for arrests to be made and support to be given to victims”.
In the latest reported cases of domestic violence locally, the police arrested and charged 23-year-old Towers, West End resident, Shawnee Sampson, for Cruelty to Child. She was granted $2,000 police bail ahead of her appearance before the Magistrate’s Court on June 25.
Just last week in an unrelated incident, a son reportedly stabbed his dad in the gut. It is unclear whether the son is a minor but police said they had taken him into custody for wounding.
