Commissioner of Police Darwin Dottin believes there should be greater attention paid to the victims of crime.
And he wants to see a “holistic approach to the matter of criminal investigation”.
“We are hearing a lot [of] discussion on the rights of the suspect but you are not hearing a lot [on] the rights of the victim. I think we have to square the circle and speak to the rights of the victims,” Dottin told the SUNDAY SUN.
Noting he was referring to all elements of the judicial system, the police chief said he hoped the president of the Barbados Bar Association [Andrew Pilgrim] would join him in dealing with the issue “to ensure that [victims’] cases are brought to trial speedily and that they get their day in court”.
Two Saturdays ago, the Bar president said he was concerned about the number of convictions based on confessions.
On the issue of confessional statements of accused, Dottin said the force’s investigators were now mandated to seek forensic evidence where possible when conducting their investigations.
He noted that they wanted to move away from all the criticisms levelled against the police.
He also spoke about the introduction of video and audio recording of accused statements, noting however that due to the limitations of facilities to conduct such a procedure, serious offences such as murder and aggravated burglaries might be the only cases to be considered in the proposed yearend start.
“Because we don’t have the full range of suites [interview rooms], we can’t go with the full range of offences because if you did, it would impede the work of the force.
“People would have to queue up to use the facilities. The plan is for the more serious offences like murders, aggravated robberies and so on,”?Dottin said.
