Deputy PM St Clair Leacock used the term “culture of gangsterism” in his budget presentation to describe the normalisation and proliferation of organised crime, violence, and gang activity that he says developed during the 24-year tenure of the previous administration.
Leacock characterized this culture not just as a series of isolated crimes, but as a deep-seated societal issue that has become a “time bomb” for the nation.
Leacock expresses alarm that gang influence has reached every level of schooling. He notes that the police high command identified active gangs in the community college and secondary schools, and was further informed by principals that they are present in primary schools as well.
He highlights a “national crisis” involving young girls in gangs who want to leave but feel trapped and do not know how to exit.
Leacock distinguishes the country’s challenges into two types of “inheritance”: fiscal debt and a “security inheritance” of blood. This is evidenced he says by high homicide rates stating that St. Vincent and the Grenadines recorded 188 homicides over four years, which Leacock calculates as nearly one murder every nine days.
He pointed to a high rate of gun-related murders and an abundance of illegal firearms in the “hands of the wrong people”.
Leacock said the culture of gangsterism involves more than local street crime; it includes organized, transnational elements.
“Some gang leaders reside in neighboring islands and operate their systems from the outside, with some becoming “syndicated” with larger criminal organizations from the north”.
Leacock mentioned that the country has become a transit point for South American cocaine, with traffickers using local waterways as a “highway and lamented that criminals often possess better equipment than the police officers tasked with chasing them.
The Deputy PM stated that this culture has created an economic crisis, with studies estimating that crime costs between 3% to 5% of the nation’s GDP—roughly $100 million in losses annually. He describes a nation in mourning where “tears… do not dismantle gangs” and “silence… does not solve murders,” stressing that the problem cannot be solved by “hard power” (more guns and boots) alone, but requires “soft power” and early intervention.
Leacock views this culture as a legacy of “24 years of neglect” where the previous government failed to modernize the police force or address the root causes of criminality, allowing gang structures to take root across the country.