As homicides on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) continue to rise, the islands’ Prime Minister, Ralph Gonsalves, said on December 18, speaking on local radio WEFM, that governments could be tough on crime and on the causes of crime, but they do not have a “magic bullet” to halt criminal activities.
On Boxing Day (December 26), the southern Caribbean island, which was called Hairouna or the “Land of the Blessed,” by the indigenous peoples, recorded its 42nd homicide, with the killing of Mikhail Charles in the suburbs of Kingstown, the capital.
The 42 homicides have shattered the island’s 2016 record of 40.
With the island population calling on the government to implement varying methods to curb the crime wave, Gonsalves said the fight is everyone’s business.
“The fight against crime is everybody’s business. I am calling on families, parents, schools, and churches to all do their part to put a dent in the crime situation.” “A total society approach” is needed to fight crime in SVG, Gonsalves said.
Due to the unconstitutionality of mandatory death sentences and the lack of electronic monitoring of criminals, the Prime Minister, who is also the Minister of National Security, stated that people are not easily deterred from committing murder.
“In the absence of the death penalty, murder cases usually end with convicts getting a term of years, regardless of how gruesome the murder may be.” They feel that if they end up receiving 20–25 or 30 years and are 20 years old, they will still come out and be able to live a life. “Perhaps in our context, if the death penalty was available, we would have fewer shootings,” he stated.
“In the case of electronic surveillance, it would have had to be mandated by a judge of the high court.” This method of helping with the gathering of intelligence is not available in SVG. “When we introduced it in parliament, we got no support from the opposition, so this tool is not yet available to fight crime in the multi-island state,” Gonsalves said.
The islands’ government said that the upcoming national budget for 2023 would see an increase in the allocation for the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force, moving from $38,000 to $41,000.
