According to regional Pollster and Political analyst Peter Wickham, like in Trinidad and Tobago, crime and the economy can cause the Unity Labour Party to lose.
Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, throughout his tenure, has been the minister of everything in SVG except for the one ministry he holds, National Security. His administration has been in government for the past twenty-four years, and in December 2024, he publicly stated that the police force, specifically the Special Branch, the intelligence arm, is operating 30 years behind. Does this sound familiar? Who else in recent times expressed that SVG was 30 years behind? The Prime Minister publicly rebutted Dr. Kishore Shallow’s statement that SVG is 30 years behind neighbouring countries like St Lucia.
The Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force is responsible for our national security and defense. The Minister of National Security is responsible and makes recommendations for the appointments of commissioners. We’ve had several commissioners of police within the last seven years, but let’s focus on the present top Cop. In doing so, let’s focus on the facts before proceeding with this. Commissioner Williams was the most junior amongst his peers. Was he the most suited/qualified to be promoted to that position? Since his acting appointment, has he shown competence in the implementation of any crime strategies? Is there any crime strategy? Pan Against Crime, maybe? If pan were the best instrument against crime, then Trinidad and Tobago would have been the safest place on earth. Maybe this answer lies in him not being confirmed in this position. So, let’s move on.
Is our police force equipped with the resources to combat crime in this era of constant gun violence? In each of these gun-related homicides, we see crime scenes being processed by forensic teams. Have you ever wondered what the evidence collected is used for? Are they being analysed or just kept in storage at the criminal records office? The answer lies in the fact that the state hasn’t won a single case based on forensic evidence.
While writing this article, a press conference was being held by the hierarchy of the police force after the recent triple homicide, We’re patiently awaiting the prime minister’s. Considering this, I’d advise readers to go and look at the recording of or a picture of this press conference, despite it being held on a Saturday, of the four seniors present, how many were attired in a shirt that displayed the logo of the RSVGPF? Where is professionalism? This, in my opinion, is a representation of a demoralized police force.
At the same time, I saw a Facebook post from a police officer with twenty-plus years of service, which stated, “We should no longer accept statements from our government that it is doing everything possible to fight crime.” Interestingly, there was another post from a well-known female social media personnel member, who recently did a political ad in a Ministry of Culture logo t-shirt for the ULP North Windward whistle stop caravan held on Saturday. Her post read, “A press conference was held a few days ago by our Prime Minister and Minister of National Security about the Citizen by Investment Programme (CBI), a programme that is not yet implemented in St Vincent and the Grenadines. This is a 2×4 country, and every citizen is being affected by these crimes one way or another. Just like CBI, a press conference needs to be had discussing strategies to help alleviate crimes, especially gun-related ones… The crime situation is overbearing and needs urgent attention.”
So, my people, unless there’s an improvement in our policing standards and crime-fighting strategies, which would increase their prosecution efforts, which in turn would result in higher conviction rates, we’re going to be here discussing this level of crime after our next general elections.
Notwithstanding, I join with our Minister of Finance, Camillo Gonsalves, who had to postpone his red lime the same Saturday, as expressed in his postponement post, “During this difficult time, standing in solidarity with our community in mourning and reflection is important… Keep the family in prayers, and we must all stand together in the fight against crime and violence.”
Accordingly, it is time that we, the people, demand policy over politics. Blame divides, but reflection unites.
