Cousins, 13 and 10, spend night in Cove and John lock-ups

Sep 24, 2014 News

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A few months ago the Guyana Police Force, with the blessings of the Ministry of Home Affairs, initiated a ‘Cops and Faith’ programme, which was geared to reduce the criminalising of young people who found themselves on the wrong side of the law.
Under the programme, rather than detain persons below a certain age, the police are supposed to contact religious leaders in the respective communities as well as the parents of suspected offenders who would mediate matters so as not to criminalise youths.
But the programme appears to have been lost on some sections of the Guyana Police Force, especially in light of the arrest and overnight detention of two cousins, aged 13 and 10 years old, in the Cove and John Police Station lock-ups on Monday night.
The youths, who hail from Ann’s Grove on the East Coast of Demerara, are accused of break and enter and larceny. They were released on station bail yesterday morning after a night on the cold concrete of a cell, following enquiries by this newspaper and the protestations of their mother and aunt, Dorette Stephenson.
The woman had contacted this newspaper on Monday night to inform that the police had arrested the two children, just after they had come home from school.
The police were investigating a report by a neighbour that the two youths were seen breaking into her home. The neighbour claimed that she lost $25,000 as a result of the break-in which reportedly occurred two months ago.
According to Stephenson, the police came to her house on Monday afternoon and ordered that she take her 13-year old son and 10-year old nephew to the station, after informing her of the allegations made against them. The woman said she initially refused to comply, since it was already approaching nightfall.
She said that the police went away and returned with guns and arrested the two youths and took them to the Cove and John Police Station where they were promptly placed in the lock-ups.
Stephenson said she went to the police station to look into the interest of the children but was chased out by ranks there.
This newspaper, upon receipt of the information late Monday night, tried to contact senior police officials in the Division, but was unsuccessful.
Chapter 10:03 of the Juvenile Offenders Act states “it shall be conclusively presumed that a child under the age of 10 years old would not be guilty of an offence.”
However, according to a legal source, the children in question should have been spoken to in the presence of an adult and then let go pending investigations, which would have involved the advice of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Chapter 10:03 (5) advises against the placing of suspected juvenile offenders in the lock-ups overnight.
The law states that juvenile offenders shall be released on a recognisance, with or without sureties, “for such amount as will, in the opinion of the officer, secure the attendance of such person upon the hearing of the charge, being entered into by him or by his parent or guardian, or other responsible person.”
This newspaper was also advised that, if at all, the police should have cause to detain a child it must be at a place that is recognised and established by the Minister of Home Affairs as a juvenile facility.
When contacted on the matter yesterday, Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee told members of the media that it might have been the perfect scenario for the ‘Cops and Faith’ initiative.
The Minister explained that the initiative was put in place as a result of discussions between the Guyana Police Force and his ministry to address the reduction of the criminalisation of young people.
He said that he has seen reports where the initiative has been implemented and was satisfied.
“Steps are indeed in place to address those matters to avoid the criminalisation of young persons, to even avoid going to the stage of charging them for wandering, and to involved the faith-based organizations, the Pastor in the neighbourhood, the priest, the Pandit or the Moulvi in a dispute resolution issue in order to bring closure to the matter in a way that is acceptable to all the parties, including the police,” the Minister stated.
He said however, that he does not know if in this particular case whether the programme was applied, “because it was aimed precisely for situations like that. So I would expect that a programme like that would be applicable in the circumstances.”
The Minister promised to check on the matter.
“I am proud that he (Rohee) is standing up for these youngsters,” a relative of the two Ann’s Grove youths said.
But a senior police official defended the police’s position, explaining that the ‘Cops and Faith’ initiative is not mandatory. According to the official, the initiative kicks in “only if the virtual complainant wants it to go that route; if they want that approach to be pursued.”
Meanwhile, late yesterday police questioned two other young men from the same household in the presence of their mother and subsequently released them on self-bail.
Kaieteur News understands that attorney at law and former Opposition Leader, Robert Corbin, turned up at the Cove and John Police Station where he made enquiries about the apparent violation of the children’s rights.

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