“Likely to Get Worse” Before Improvement
St Vincent (SVG) Opposition MP St Clair Leacock says with regards to the current crime situation in SVG, like all Vincentians, he is shocked, horrified, and dismayed. However, the Opposition party will not throw their hands in the air because there clearly must be solutions at hand.
During an interview on Boom 106.9FM on Thursday morning, Leacock stated that addressing crime and law enforcement necessitates a comprehensive reform, citing information indicating that “it is likely to deteriorate before it improves.”
“It’s likely to get worse before it gets better. And I am aware of correspondence. I’ve been messaged on my phone that World War Three hasn’t broken out yet, and whether we accept it or not is another conversation that I don’t think I have to illuminate this morning.”
“I have correspondence on my phone, very recent correspondence within the last 48 hours of scenes in St Vincent, where criminal activity is taking place, and where that matter has been brought to the attention of the Prime Minister’s office and to law enforcement. And there are different responses to it. On one hand, people are saying, Let’s leave it so we can have a sting operation. And others are saying, Let us bring that to an end”.
Leacock stated that there is no necessity to inform the police, as they are already cognisant of the situation. “They’re in the loop and the officers are in the loop. If that is so, we are in a bad place. So I’m saying we have to address this matter.”
In light of the recent homicides, the Opposition MP articulates that it is profoundly challenging for Vincentians to accept this reality; however, five killings within a single week is excessive, emphasising the necessity for law enforcement to be equipped with the appropriate resources to address the situation effectively.
“We can’t afford to lose our business people this way. We can’t afford to have innocent bystanders lose their lives in this way, and we can’t turn our backs on those who have taken leave of their senses and have no regard for life and limb and senselessly visit people at their home, their workplace, and their business places and just shoot without due regard and don’t care about the outcomes.”
“I heard the police high command said there seems to be a pattern between what happened in Green Hill, where King lost his life, and Belmont, where Leslyn lost her life. We should be more advanced. We can put that to rest by doing the forensics; we should have specialists who address things like ballistics and other things. That narrows the uncertainty.”
Leacock expressed his support for a model in which the approach to law and order and national security is closely integrated with the Ministry of Homeland Security and the Ministry of Homeland Affairs.
“When you’re dealing with a hurricane, you also have to pay attention to the feeder bands” What is out there that is contributing to that eye, to that centre? And if economic social circumstances in St Vincent are not right, and that’s the home affairs situation, then it provides feeders to the crime situation”, Leacock stated.
