Crime and National Security
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Objectives
● Revise and strengthen our institutions of justice.
● Restore trust in our protective services.
● Address the drug trade, white collar crime and party and campaign financing
● Curb prevalence of domestic violence and violence against children
● Address violence in schools
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Domestic Violence
● Organisations that provide safe houses for victims of domestic violence will have their work supplanted and expanded by the state.
● An end to the stigmatisation of male victims of domestic abuse
● Issue of non-intervention by members of the TTPS will be dealt with
● Immediate arrests when threats against a person’s life has been made
● The law will be amended in order to allow more types of admissible evidence beyond eyewitness testimonies
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Violence in Schools
● Teaching Service Commission will receive additional staff to fill vacancies in all schools.
● Lack of guidance counsellors in the system will be addressed.
● Programmatic rehabilitation will be introduced for students displaying problematic behaviour
● Structured, non-academic programmes as part of the curriculum will be introduced in order to curb after-school violence
● Students will be zoned in order to bring them closer to community centred initiatives such as community clubs and organisations
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The Judiciary and Penal systems
● Allow a wider range of admissible evidence to include CCTV footage, written eyewitness testimony and the utilisation of video conferencing to allow a witness to testify from anywhere in the world.
● Introduction of a parole system
● Establish the CCJ as the final court of appeal for both civil and criminal matters
● Transform prison facilities to reflect a genuine attempt at rehabilitation.
● All vacancies in the prison service will be filled.
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The Drug Trade and White Collar Crime
● FIU, BIR and Customs and Excise Division will be able to independently investigate questionable transactions and funds whose source cannot be identified.
● Political parties will be obliged to produce statutory declarations of income and expenditure.
● Party Finance legislation will be introduced immediately
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The Police Service
● Authority to appoint a Police Commissioner will be restored to the Police Service Commission.
● Forensics capacity of the TTPS will be expanded together with necessary legal framework in order to improve detection rate.
● Introduction of DNA testing facilities
● Complete overhaul of the magistrate’s court
● Strengthen the Police Complaints Authority to allow for independent investigations.