St Vincent must maintain reputation as safe place
The Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) emphasized on Saturday, February 11, that the police do not cause crimes but that suboptimal or poor policing can provide more space for criminals.
Gonsalves said that the island must keep its reputation as a safe place to visit at a press conference he held with the police high command to talk about the country’s rising crime rate.
St. Vincent has already recorded nine murders for 2023, which includes two at the hands of the police. The latest killing came on Thursday, February 9, with the death of Perlina Greaves, who was shot in the head; she succumbed to her injuries on Friday.
“The important thing is for the police force to be so organized and perform and operate in a manner as to narrow the space to the furthest point practicable in relation to the criminals, so that the criminals don’t have the space to function and the gunmen don’t have the space to function, and of course we rely on the ordinary people’s support and cooperation along with the judicial system to deliver justice so as to maintain the country’s reputation as being a place which is safe and secure.”
Gonsalves says that there are criminal problems in every society, but the state must make sure that these problems are kept to a minimum.
“The level to which right-thinking persons may say, well, something there is wrong, but we’re very safe; in other words, people have a sense as to when they’re safe and when they’re not safe, and the police have to build that confidence more and more through their day-to-day work.”
Actions in relation to the causes of crimes
“Different crimes have different causes and impulses, but it is widely recognized that if you have a family, if you have good family upbringing, if you have solid values instilled in the young, in the home and the schools, in the churches, and in the communities, young people, especially young males, if they take advantage of all the opportunities that are available, they will not be tempted by greed or any other weakness to go towards criminal activity.”
Guns and bullets are coming from the US
“The commissioner of police has a meeting lined up with the comptroller of customs and the chief executive officer of the Argyle International Airport. Naturally, the Coast Guard is very much involved in this, too, so there’s a whole gamut of these issues, but the focus now is largely on policing and how the space can be narrowed in relation to the criminals.
