We have to get a handle on gun crime
D6 Representative has called on the government to fix the crime problem that is affecting the community.
“We have to get a handle, as was said before, on crime in this country, particularly gun crimes,” Walwyn said recently. “The reality is that the first thing that we do when there is a criminal matter, particularly, again, gun crimes, the first thing we do is that we go and we look at the police and say what the police is doing.”
Walwyn made the comments in the wake of the gruesome murder of local attorney Jamal Smith, who was found dead at his Manuel Hill home last month.
Walwyn argued that the police are reactionary and they depend on the community to assist with solving crimes. He urged members of the community to do their part in helping to solve crimes if they want to ensure that there is a safe community.
Residents and lawmakers continue to raise concerns about growing crime in the territory, but it is unclear whether law enforcement agencies have been making headway in addressing the issue.
After a daring daylight robbery by two masked, gun-toting bandits at the House of Luxury jewellery store at Tortola Pier Park last year, the National Security Council (NSC) reassured residents that their safety is of the utmost priority.
A release from the NSC shortly after the robbery stated: “The NSC wishes to assure everyone that the security of the people of the Virgin Islands is of paramount concern and that no stone will be left unturned in bringing the perpetrators of this crime to justice.”
Following Smith’s murder and another daring daylight jewellery store robbery earlier this year, the NSC issued similar responses, urging residents to come forward as eyewitnesses.
D8 Representative Marlon Penn recently expressed deep concern over the state of crime in the territory and called for a national security strategy to combat crime. He appealed for a broader conversation on how lawmakers could address the issue in the territory.
Penn’s cries found support from Territorial At-Large Representative Stacy ‘Buddha’ Mather and Second District Representative Melvin ‘Mitch’ Turnbull who argued that the territory has normalised crime.
Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley promised earlier this year that an anti-crime strategy would be unveiled by his advisor, Kevin Smith and said there would be consultations with various bodies once this happens.
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You all know how the guns is getting into the Territory, remember they don’t make guns in the BVI. The A…s is bringing in the guns in furniture, appliances, stoves broken down and assembled when they get to the BVI. The same guns that the A…s bought into the Territory was used to pull off the brazen jewel store robbery at Aladin.
And the same guns that the A- *ABS IS BRINGING INTO THE COUNTRY CONCEALED IN THE ABOVE MENTIONED THE GUNMEN IS USING AGAINST THEM AND CARRYING OUT THE BRAZEN ROBBERIES AND KILLINGS.
We have to be harder on crimes as they escalate. The criminals are just being recycled and let back among law abiding citizens including those that should be deported. Let’s take the bull by the horn!
I will say what are the police doing because we are not allowed to protect ourselves.
By definition any item for protection including pepper spray ladies is an offensive weapon.
Until our self defense is legal in any way, we should be demanding more from those who monopolize our security.
What seems to be our trajectory is citizens will take security into their own hands because there is no avenue for legal protection.
And thus the black market for guns is literally perpetuated by the security forces whom demand we the people remain completely vulnerable.
When will we learn, after a mass shooting with everyone running unable to help themselves? hmm as far as we can tell the Aladin robbers could have blown people away in town, as has happened before multiple times and nothing would happen to them.
If the people can not protect themselves and the police is inadequate a citizens surveillance service may start but look at haiti after years of torture the citizens formed vigilante groups to kill the kidnappers, kidnapping went down for a time.
We will wait until its too late to secure ourselves.
Gun crime was never a major issue in this territory in the distant past.
We has gotten to this point I would say over the past 25 years.
My recollection is that gun crimes began to occur and increase under the very first NDP government, and the governor at the time.
It is important to say the governor at the time because Government House had and has a role to play, as this a national security issue.
In my view, during that period, nothing significantly was done to address gun crime when the problem was in it’s infancy.
It’s as if the government proper did not know what to do. They paid very little attention to the problem and put out no actionable plan to confront it then.
I reckon the reason was that many in the government and society were in denial about what was occurring and more invested in projecting an image of the the BVI as some peaceful place and “Natures Little Secret”.
Then as the narco trade started taking hold in the territory, the problem took off.
On top of all of this, we had this terrible situation with Head Coach adding more wood to the fire allegedly and arguably his actions perhaps resulting in more guns and drugs flooding our streets.
Making matters worse, you have an economy that is not working for everyone, and a subculture of people who want fast money to buy big house and drive fancy cars.
They have champagne taste but mauby change, and have decided to risk their lives and freedom to get what they want, and will kill anyone who gets in their way.
All along, the government proper has been unable or incapable of formulating and executing a plan to contain this problem.
Our police force has been unprepared or unable to deal with the combined issue of the narco trade and guns which go hand in hand, and allegedly some are corrupt or complicity with the narco trade.
The government has been flat footed in it’s response to this problem, and quite frankly in my view has let us down.
The first NDP government put into law to my recollection mandatory 10 years prison sentence for gun crimes, but it seems as if it has fallen on deaf ears with the courts.
When was the last time anyone caught with a gun was sentenced to the mandatory 10 years in prison?
We have a society that plays blind and deaf to crime, and some criminal elements riding around on these motorbikes some of who are clearly up to no good.
The point is this: We are all to blame for this mess we find our selves in.
Our society is in decay from the inside out, and some how by the hook or the crook, we have got to cut out the rot to get back to some state of normalcy.
Concerned
Gun crimes started since Lavity Stout was in office Do you remember the Sage mountain murders and when Willis Pickering was murdered so stop about NDP
“My recollection is that gun crimes began to occur and increase under the very first NDP government, and the governor at the time.”
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Clearly your recollection of when these gun crimes began differs than mine.
The late Chief Minister was in office from 4 April 1967 – 2 June 1971.
I do not recall that particular event or frequent events of that nature around that time because I was very young then and was about to enter high school.
What I do recall is what I stated. Surely, if there are some recorded stats on gun violence in this territory, it would validate that gun violence increased during that period as I suggested. That increase in gun violence has been increasing along with the narco trade.
Now, the fact that you can trace gun violence all the way back to that period makes the case that we have had this issue for for a very long time, and no subsequent government has come up with a concrete plan to address it.
People have gotten murdered, and you barely hear the government speak of it, or try to address it in the aftermath. Just silence.
They have just allowed the problem to fester, and it will only get worse. I believe there are some who believe gun violence will not affect them. They are wrong.
Good thing that the BVI has those strict gun laws that prevent law-abiding citizens from owning firearms…..
I would never help the police because they take things personally. One officer followed me and harassed me thinking I was someone else. Another one bothered me thinking I was checking a woman I don’t even know. F*** the police!
A feast is made for laughter and wine maketh merry but money answeret all things. The simplest and most effective way to prevent and to solve crimes is to pay for information. What the government is doing is simply playing politics with people’s lives. They using the money to do everything except protecting them, which to me is pure negligence…..
The only solution to this is to have 2 companies of British soldiers for 6 months with some good quality English police, also for 6 months. They can do cordon and searches.
They need to be from UK so their families can’t be intimidated.
You also need to have criminal assizes with no juries as was the case in Ulster; so the juries can’t be nibbled.
It is the only way to reduce the number of firearms in circulation
We have a heap of UK police officers here for some time now. How better have we been in solving crime since they have been here. Sounds like a well needed vacation for all of them. UK is a let down and the COI ended up to be the biggest joke of all times
That is the solution right there plain and simple. Who is against this solution needs a swift kick with pointed toe shoes up the middle of their rectum that will send them flying face first into the raw toilet sewage that is running on the street.
I clear a small boat in and out of west end ferry dock all the time, they are crazy about paperwork and forms although it is all supposed to be on a computer, and it takes a long time to clear in and out. Lots of time to check my boat however, not once does my boat ever get searched for anything, not once.
Thats how the guns come in, right under your noses.
Just watch how the water taxis just breeze right through, no bags unload, passengers never get off. More than swimwear in them bags.
First thing the guns are coming tru the Ports!!!! Fix this fist set of them collecting money just to let the good pass!!
The government is west Bank and west Bank said in one of their songs west Bank have more guns then the navy
The government is west Bank and west Bank said in one of their songs west Bank have more guns then the navy . N say he can kill how he wasn’t he has the police pay off they won’t do anything if you complain
if 5he native BVILANDERS police is selling information to the drug dealers how can the UK police nor the ISLAND PEOPLE police get the job done ? You and resident need yo kick eachother with that pointed toe shoes where you suggested ,or take both of you up BALO to spend some time with PUMKIN
Apparently we more concerned with fighting colonialism; gun violence can wait.
Stop letting TV and movies raise your children.
if The native BVILANDERS police is selling information to the drug dealers how can the UK police or the ISLAND PEOPLE police get the job done ? You and resident need to kick eachother with that pointed toe shoes where you suggested ,or both of you need
to go up BALO and spend some time with his excellency ( mr PUMKIN
The Romanians that was caught today needs to be sent right back out. They are gypsies and we don’t need those type of people in our communities. Go and research those gypsies and see what they are about. Thieves, con artist, scammers. They do not work, they make their living off scamming people.
it has to be the new media and social media creating all of these problems. how did the bvi got into this terrible condition in over 56 years ago?
something seems wrong in the bvi where the offshore industry and financial industry is concerned. there is some type of financial problems over there with all of those trust companies in the bvi there has to be something wrong with the financial services in the bvi.
something is wrong in the bvi. where in the world did fraudnet come from? bvi islander should be extrement carefully with online services/social media and news media which is definitely ruining the bvi. the internet and the world wide web is nothing but a place for people to commit terrorism everyday towards other innocent people.
The obvious that the current population of these VI is majority made up of the peoples from Caribbean Islands that are in the top tier in world crime and # 1 in the Northern Hemisphere. Immigrants both legal and illegal.Known criminals whose names and photos are secreted from the public. An illegal immigrant population, prison escapees,criminals from other Caribbean along with imported hired
asassinators.These VI just yesterday with
zero crime now has double digit unsolved
murders and robberies. No way could this
be a reality without the assist/
cooperation of our elected Gov within this
miniscule population. As it stands now there is no way but down down for these
VI. We are attempting to survive in a demographic population of criminals and behavior calculatedly installed by members of our Elected Government,then and now,solely for their( criminals and elected) personal financial enrichment.
Yes, start arresting he people you know are actually bringing in the guns for profits and death and stop trying to fool the community with your once a trimester with a local arrest and or bust.
Fools we are not. We just don’t have the power you all have to remain hoplessly corupt.
@ resident why cant the police just do their job, what more can the military do?
I’ll tell you what they can do is send some equipment such as drones & hire some local officers rather than outsiders, & get their satellites working to solve crime.
They dont need any military to come here to do that this isnt a war zone.
The UK Officers and the money going to the police is enough.
“The Romanians that was caught today ”
Oh cmon another set of Romanians? Those people stereotypically are into the mob & very dangerous.
Really the solution is to arm our citizens & provide weapons training. Either there are no guns or allow everyone to be licensed.
A armed society is a polite & secure society.
The Gun shot victims and the shooters are all in together, all Gun shot victims know their shooter yet those that survived refused to talk, allowing that said shooter to continue shooting more and more people..
They want UK tocome inand take over the billion dollar cocaie indstry for themselves and their economy. It isis pure colonial,political and economic greed being referrenced incommens like the semingly retired Brit, Resident.
A blind man reading Head Coach’s trial will know how the guns come in the Territory
You know, I hate to gloathe on these types of issues.
..But, it seems to me, that every citizen in this country, is a gun-totting, criminal loving maven, just waiting to be discovered.
Do you really believe that the officials do not know how these guns have arrived here?
They cannot arrive, without the BLESSINGS, of the officials!
I suggest, that the search for illegal weapons, BEGIN, in the homes of the elected, AND, appointed officials!
IT IS THERE, that the information for all other issues related to crimes, WILL be found!
It is possible these people cant be caught because they are informants.
They get a clean slate to run amok.
Can the UK & US tell us the number of informants in the territory because if its 100 Ill bet 90 are doing crimes themselves, how else would they blend in?
A lot of those people that sit down on the block I regard them as informants. How else can they be in the same spot every day doing illegal activity?