“A matter of serious concern has come to my attention and I am issuing a warning to all police personnel to not have their integrity compromised by individuals seeking to compromise the Family and Sexual Violence Unit (FSVU) protocols.
“While I cannot go into specific details in order to protect the identity of the victim, the case in question is of a woman living in a safe house after her husband was accused of rape and kidnapping.
“The accused man had sought to bribe police personnel to obtain the address of the safe house and even demand a search warrant be raised to locate the woman in the house.
“I make it very clear that safe houses are not to be subject to search warrants and they are operating with police presence for the protection of the women and children inside.
“As police and as a society, we must all have the greatest respect for women and children who are the victims of family and sexual violence and the lifelong damage that have been caused to them.
“A woman is not the possession of a man, and sadly this is a case where the alleged violent offender thinks he has some kind of ownership.
“While we respect cultural beliefs, some being enshrined in our Constitution, there are some practices that can never be tolerated.
“We have progressed as a society and women are not property, or any human being rendered a lower status let alone owned by another person.
“The alleged offender in this serious matter is now the subject of investigation for attempted bribery, and further police action will be taken as this investigation continues.
“Anyone who attempts to influence the safety afforded by a safe house will be subject to the full extent of the law. The RPNGC will not tolerate threats to the safety of our vulnerable.
“All police must respect the Family and Sexual Violence Unit protection system and not be compelled to act unprofessionally,” Commissioner of Police David Manning said.