4 yrs of 'underspending' on Police has to be addressed- Gov Duncan
It was on March 16, 2017 that Governor Duncan ordered that over $1.88M of public monies be taken from the Consolidated Fund and decided that the Police, Magistrate’s Court, Attorney General’s Chambers and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions be granted these funds.
His move was done by imposing direct rule via his constitutional authority under Sec 103 (b).
Although Governor Duncan’s actions belittled the National Democratic Party Government of Premier Dr The Honourable D. Orlando Smith (AL), many people supported the Governor as they felt Government was not doing enough to address the obvious upsurge in criminal activities, including gun crime.
At the time too, the Territory had also seen three homicides for the year, two by gun violence.
Gun killings continue; Public’s patience diminishing
But three months later the patience of many has started to wane as homicides have continued on a monthly basis. For 2017 there have been 7 homicides committed in a space of six months- the highest ever for the tiny British Overseas Territory.
Three of the four homicides since March 16, 2017 have been as a result of gun violence.
Jefferson Joseph was shot and killed outside a nightclub near CSY Dock in Baughers Bay, Tortola on April 16, 2017.
On Saturday May 6, 2017, around 10:20 PM, 22 year old Shaun H. Richards was said to be sitting outside his home in Long Look on Tortola when a lone gunman allegedly came up to him and fired at least 2 gun shots at him. Mr Richards, a Virgin Islander, succumbed to his injuries a few days later at Peebles Hospital.
And then David Springette aka ‘Mooney’ was shot and killed in Fat Hogs Bay on June 21, 2017.
‘It takes time’
Meanwhile, in an exclusive interview with Governor Duncan on June 22, 2017 he said the effects of the extra funding to the Police and other departments will take time to bear fruits.
“...and as one of the bloggers said, ‘it takes time’. It’s not just, oh give me the money and everything happens, of course not, we have to address the underspending in the past four years, so that takes time to put it back together again.
So far the Police have brought in no less than six detectives from the United Kingdom, using the resources made available to them from the Consolidated Fund, a story first reported by this news site.
As expected, the public is eagerly awaiting to see persons brought to justice for the various homicides.
“And it will take time. They are working on it, you will see,” Governor Duncan told this news site in the brief interview.
Asked what were his reasonable expectations from the various departments which benefited from monies taken from the Consolidated Fund, Governor Duncan only said: “That they do their jobs.”
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