POLICE TO PRIORITIZE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE THIS YEAR

RSIPF Commissioner Frank Prendergast. Photo credit: SIBC.

Police Commissioner Frank Prendergast says family violence is a real concern in Solomon Islands and preventing it is a priority for the RSIPF this year.

Mr. Prendergast was speaking in relation to two incidents after the New Year where a 17-year-old girl was stabbed to death by her brother-in-law and another man beheaded his own brother.

He says family violence is a big issue in the community, and these incidents show where it can lead to.

Mr. Prendergast says Police arrested the perpetrators but what he wants, is to prevent this type of incidents from happening again.

“But what I’m really looking for is to work with communities to prevent these sort of incidents occurring. So it’s one thing apprehending the offenders and prosecuting them, that needs to happen where these offenses have occurred. But let’s face it, we don’t want to be in that situation, we’d much rather work to prevent it occurring. So just reinforcing, family violence is going to be a key priority for police this year and we’re going to be urging the community to help us prevent family violence.”