Probation department under pressure

Acting Chief Probation Officer Denise Agard says the probation department is not adequately staffed to deal with an increase in sexual and sex-related cases before the law courts.

The mounting pressure on the department has come with more presentence reports on offenders required by the courts, and not enough resources to ensure they are done.

“We have put in a request with the Ministry of Public Service to have an increase in our staff to deal with these situations because, as you would understand, a presentence report is supposed to be done within eight weeks and sometimes that is not always possible,” Agard told reporters on the sidelines of a sex offenders workshop on Monday.

“We have to put in the factors for officers going on vacation, officers having sick leave or having other things that they have to do. So we really would like at least three to four officers now. The requests are coming fast and furious. We are trying our best to cope, but we would really like to have additional staff.”

Agard said while probation officers were now preparing sentencing reports related to sex offences committed as long as a decade ago, some recent cases have reached the courts.

She said the majority of victims, who were minors at the time, are now adults.

“We all know we have a backlog with the system. So these cases are now coming to the fore, and then it also depends on if the person had pleaded guilty; maybe that one would be expedited, but if there is a trial, that case would probably take some time. So, all of these factors would have contributed to the delay in the justice system,” the acting probation chief explained.

She said while she did not have the statistics at hand to show the increase in cases, the Barbados Probation Service saw it necessary to organise the workshop, held at Radisson Aquatica Resort, to better equip probation officers, police officers and other stakeholders with the skills to deal with these cases.

“There is an increase, yes, but it is not over-worrying, so we want to nip it in the bud before it gets out of control. We decided that we needed to do something because when you interview a person for the presentence report, there are a lot of things that come up and a lot of things that we deal with besides the information that we need for the report. So we thought it necessary to get the requisite training so that we can also help the victim as well as the perpetrator,” she said.

Agard appealed to women, who are predominantly the victims of sexual offences, to seek justice even though it may have taken a long time for their case to be dealt with in court.

“We know a lot of them have been threatened, a lot of them are afraid of the consequences, and sometimes when you speak to them, you realise that it was not a one-time occurrence; it is something that has been going on for quite a while.

“And then sometimes these people get into the justice system because of the trauma that they experienced, and they are keeping it all inside, and then it might come out in behaviours that are unsavoury, and then when we are dealing with an offence of another kind, then we find out that there is something that happened in their lives long before that they are also battling with,” Agard said.

Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce investigator Justin Moyer and Sexual Addiction Treatment Services Expert Jennifer Weekes, both from the United States, are among the speakers at the three-day workshop.

Minister of Home Affairs and Information Wilfred Abrahams said the impetus to host the workshop was the recognition of the increase in sex-related offences and an observed deficit in the requisite knowledge and skill set to work effectively with these individuals.

“The department sought to obtain specialised training in this field not only for probation officers but all key stakeholder agencies who encounter this population and could benefit from additional expertise in this area. Once again, I wish to compliment you for seeing the need for this workshop,” he said.

(AH)