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Bahamas Police Chief Says There's No Need For Police In Public Schools
Related to country: Bahamas

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Police Chief Says No Need For Police In Schools:
By Kendea Jones -
Nassau, Bahamas:



Despite violent episodes at two public high schools last week, Acting Commissioner of Police Reginald Ferguson maintains there is no need for police to be stationed at schools.

"People have to realize that this is not just the police’s problem," Mr. Ferguson said in an interview with the Bahama Journal on Sunday. "This is a problem that affects our entire society. Parents have to be accountable and look after their children better. Whether the police is there or not things are going to happen."

The first incident occurred last Thursday at D.W. Davis Junior High School. According to school officials, the incident occurred just after some students were released from a study period for BJC examinations.

According to officials, two groups of students of opposing gangs began using objects from around the school as weapons to fight each other.

Though there were no serious injuries reported, it left one representative from the Bahamas Union of Teachers calling for police presence back in schools.

The issue of whether police ought to be stationed at schools has generated debate on and off for months. Under the Christie government, officers were visible on campuses, but when the Ingraham Administration came to office last May the new government abandoned the policy.

Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham has said that the job of police officers is not to baby sit students.

For months, the Opposition has been calling for officers to be returned to school campuses.

The second incident last week occurred on Friday when two groups reportedly got into a brawl during a school fashion show, forcing school officials to send students home early.

It was also reported that the brawl continued in the nearby Yellow Elder Gardens area resulting in one student being stabbed by another.

On Sunday, the acting police commissioner said the Royal Bahamas Police Force is doing what it can to curb school violence.

"The police are usually out on patrols during morning and afternoon hours around the various campuses," he said. "All of the schools have a connection with the police and they are always in communication, and so if there is a problem the police would be there to handle it."

Mr. Ferguson also said the police may work with school officials, but they are not the only ones who should be doing so.

"We are the police and we are there to enforce the law," he said. "But the law should also be enforced at home and in church and anywhere else that children spend a considerable amount of time. I am not saying that the police cannot help, but parents just need to take more responsibility."

Mr. Ferguson also said that he had no problem with metal detectors being at schools.

"If it comes to that measure then it is something that schools would have to consider, but I think that no matter what, things can still happen. We will never be able to completely stop violence in schools, but what we can do is train these children properly," Mr. Ferguson said.

"It is not a one-fix problem."

Violence on school campuses – as well as off campuses involving students – has been a major problem this year.

In late February, two young men, Kendario Bain, 18, and Owen McKenzie, 21, both of Bamboo Town, were charged with the murder of C.V. Bethel High School student Jamil Wilchcombe – the country’s 13th murder victim and the third high school student murdered for the year.

Jamil was reportedly trying to defend his younger brother during an altercation when he was killed at the South Beach Shopping Centre, a stone’s throw away from his school.

On February 11, Rico Farrington, a C. C. Sweeting Senior High School student, was stabbed to death on campus.

Two days later, a 16-year-old male was charged with his murder. The teenager charged with the crime is also a student of the school.

On January 7, DeAngelo Cargill, a student of C. R. Walker High School, was shot while on Bay Street. He later died in hospital.

April 7, 2008

April 7, 2008 | 10:54 PM Comments  0 comments

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