Gun crime situation in VI worrying- Doug Wheatley
Weeks after a young man was gunned down near the Stickett in Long Look, two criminal offenses where a gun was involved reportedly occurred on December 12, 2016.
In the first instance, David Springette aka Mooney was shot while in the Long Look area. That same night the proprietor of Huntums Ghut Service Station was robbed of cash by two masked gunmen while in Huntums Ghut.
Police also reported that on Saturday evening, December 10, 2016 around 9:00 P.M. a female reported that she was walking in the Vanterpool Estate area when a masked gunman approached her and demanded her handbag.
“The assailant fled the scene in a vehicle with the bag containing her laptop, personal documents and cash,” police stated in a press release on December 12, 2016.
Also, on November 24, 2016 heavily armed men pounced on Riteway East End, carting off with an undisclosed amount of cash.
Police have their hands full
Mr Wheatley noted that the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force (RVIPF) under Commissioner Michael Matthews has a lot of work to do in order to tackle gun crime.
“Gun crime has been playing a role in the life of the BVI and of course they are all illegal weapons that are involved….I know that the police have their hands full in trying to get these guns off the streets,” Mr Wheatley stated.
The talk show host said it is noticed that around festival time, July-August, there is an increase in criminal activities, and also around Christmas.
“…but hopefully we will get it under control,” Mr Wheatley said.
.png)
.png)
.png)
Follow Us On
15 Responses to “Gun crime situation in VI worrying- Doug Wheatley”
If you want to know our past - look into our present conditions. If you want to know our future - look into our present actions.
Each generation will reap what the former generation has sown.
A child’s life is like a piece of paper on which every person leaves a mark.
Conditioning my brother wize up.
Remember the parable- tale of two wolves
A grandfather is talking with his grandson and he says there are two wolves inside of us which are always at war with each other.
One of them is a good wolf which represents things like kindness, bravery and love. The other is a bad wolf, which represents things like greed, hatred and fear.
The grandson stops and thinks about it for a second then he looks up at his grandfather and says, “Grandfather, which one wins?”
The grandfather quietly replies, the one you feed.
BEWARE!!!!!!!!!
First, the first order of business is getting to the maximum extent practical illegal guns off the street and bringing and giving those using guns to commit crimes their day in court. We are a nation of laws so the accused must get due process. We still have to adhere to current laws and not violate civil liberties.
Secondly, we have to plugged the source of illegal guns coming to our shores. The BVI does not have a gun factory(s) so clearly they are being imported illegally. How are they being imported? The BVI has an extensive and wide open coastline but it does not have the resources to monitor it 364/27/7 either on the water or in the air. It has no navy, coast guard or airforce. Perhaps, it needs to seek UK's help in manning and monitoring the coastline. In any event, criminals exploit this weakness. Further, there are thousands of yachts and other boats plying the BVI waters. Most may be adhering to BVI laws but to protect the community they may have to endure some inconveniences. The BVI needs to step up surveillance of boats coming into BVI waters. Boats coming into BVI waters must be put on notice that there is a high probability that they will searched with a fine tooth comb. And the book will be thrown at them if illegal weapons and other contraband are found. We need to plug the sieve-like coastline.
Moreover, it is not enough to lose people in jail for gun crimes. We must also explore the root cause for the emerging gun culture. Treating just the symptoms is just a temporary fix. To root out the problem, any problem, the root cause must be identified and rooted out. Finding the root cause will take some effort and resources. But it must be done. I'm going out on a dry limb on the following. There is some body of work that suggests that drugs and guns are like Siamese twins. They are like glove and hand, brick and mortar, bread and butter......etc.
Change the Laws whereas every home owners and business person can own a gun and have a permit to carry the same, and use it to defend themselves if necessary. Common Sense!!!!!!!!