FLA under the gun - Call for tougher policy in domestic violence cases Call for tougher policy in domestic violence cases

There are growing calls for more stringent screening of police officers and other licensed firearm holders, as accessibility to guns continues to be listed as a major catalyst for incidents of murder-suicide locally.

At the same time, entrepreneurs, entertainers, executives and taxi drivers round out the groups of men said to be easily triggered into murdering their partners and themselves after feeling disrespected, inadequate, or being told that a child they have presumed to have fathered is not theirs.

The findings were the highlight of a seminar hosted by social work students at The University of the West Indies (UWI), which examined ‘Murder-Suicide and Its Impact on the Jamaican Society’ last Friday.

According to the presenters, loss of house and children, unfaithfulness, and even male beatings are some of the reasons that have driven individuals, predominantly men, to kill their spouses in the last decade.

“We know from the literature, and what I have found in Jamaica is that where the firearm is present is a huge risk factor. So I am arguing that when you are going to renew your firearm licence, you should do a two-hour anti-domestic violence workshop as part of the renewal,” urged Dr Christopher Charles, political psychologist at the UWI.

“If you are engaged in domestic violence and you are a licensed firearm holder, and the police have evidence, the Firearm Licensing Authority (FLA) should revoke your licence and confiscate your firearm,” continued Charles, who also recommended refresher courses and training for first-time cops in handling domestic violence at home, as well as the establishment of crisis centres islandwide.

“The response is indicative with us as Jamaicans that ‘a man-and-woman business, they must sort it out’. So even for the trained professional, it is not easy to intervene,” said Charles, examining a slew of murder-suicide cases since 1991.

The majority of the cases occurred in the parish of Manchester, and most were carried out by uniformed men or licensed firearm holders.

Since January, there have been at least four cases of murder-suicide, and at least three of which occurred within the last two months.

Slow intervention

Among them was the murder Rouleeene Clarke Gowans, 42, and her estranged husband Patrick Gowans, who afterwards turned his gun on himself. Both were correctional officers.

Rouleene was chased and shot by her husband on Waltham Park Road, sparking criticisms by the public about the FLA’s slow intervention into the relationship that had been described as extremely abusive.

Gowans had been reported to the Cross Roads and Waterford police stations, Clarke Gowans’ family said. His licensed firearm was seized by the FLA nearly a decade ago after threat allegations, but was returned to him after the probe failed to gather compelling evidence, the gun watchdog said.

Letine Allen, director of compliance and enforcement at the FLA, hastened on Thursday to reassure the public that the body does not delay investigations into allegations of domestic violence involving licensed firearm users.

“We hold firearm holders accountable, so for each complaint, we do a thorough transparent investigation. We prepare a file and that file is submitted to the board for policy consideration and a decision is made,” she said, declining to say how quickly those complaints are processed or the number of complaints received in the past year.

Meanwhile, social anthropologist Dr Herbert Gayle, another of the presenters last Friday, called on Jamaicans to pay more attention to their neighbours to help curb the occurrence of murder-suicide.

Gayle said that an average of six men have sought counselling against murder-suicide from his organisation, Fathers Incorporated, annually. Since 2006, at least 81 men have been dissuaded from taking the lives of their partners and their own.

“We have to begin to look at the health of people and how people come out of environments of violence, and we have to pay a little more attention to issues of how our children are beaten at home. It is a little bit too much, and it is going to take a while,” he said.

corey.robinson@gleanerjm.com