AG: Police must act on violence reports

THE police must act promptly on complaints of gender-based violence (GBV), Attorney General (AG) Faris Al-Rawi told a post-Cabinet media briefing at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s yesterday.

“Obviously the TT Police Service must take these actions seriously. They are the first-line responders.” He said the police can call in the Social Services Division.

“Obviously, as we see in other jurisdictions, usually acts of domestic violence or reports of domestic violence involve a knock on the door by a policeman. You see it on television.

There is no rational explanation as to why that does not prevail here. In fact that is the obligation that officers act in accordance (with.)

In fact the Commissioner of Police has a role to play in ensuring that officers act upon reports.”

Saying police can act on the first breach of a protection order, Al-Rawi flatly rejected a view recently aired on television that the police can only act after an aggressor had breached three protection orders in succession, saying that is “not true.

The three-strike position is not the law of the land.”

Al-Rawi appealed to citizens to be alert to GBV and report cases to the police.

“You can’t stay silent and say this is not my business.”