Live your lives, no need for panic –ACP

Homicides being committed in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) should not deter people from going out and living their lives as they should, or stop persons from going where they want to.

So far this year in SVG, there have been 39 homicides, 36 of which investigators have classified as murders. Included in these homicides are two police related shootings and the discovery of the body of vendor, Devon “Lima” Holder on Thursday morning, October 3, in Mahoe, Lowman’s Leeward. Not included in the homicide count is one incident where a man lost his life in a motor vehicular accident, and the body of a man found floating in the waters off Owia on October 8, 2024.

On Monday October 7, 2024, speaking during the police ‘On the Beat’ radio programme on NBC Radio, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) with responsibility for fighting crime in SVG, Trevor “Buju” Bailey, stressed that the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (RSVGPF) is reassuring the public that there is no need for panic.

“I say boldly, that the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force, the organization charged with the responsibility of security and the detection of crime, we are your friend.

“…there is no need for us to panic, and there is no need for us not to go out and live our lives as we should, go places we want to go”, said ACP Bailey while speaking to host of the programme, Superintendent of Police (ASP) Junior Simmons.

Bailey said when he speaks like this, it is not him “putting a coat over an old piece of wood and making it look brand new…” but him trying to explain the nature of the homicides being committed here.

“There is a history behind most of the killings that we have seen in recent times. It is not a case where an individual, or an innocent Vincentian who just going about his normal daily chores and somebody is staying from within a woody area or somebody is staying from within the trunk of a vehicle and just shooting people at will. That is not the case here,” he pointed out.

“And when I say that there is a history- the police- we are aware of reports being made against some of these persons. We are aware where we have taken some of these persons into custody. We have charged them for various offences, so we know of some involvement one way or the other so that is why I categorize that as there is an history,” the ACP explained.

Bailey said that many of the people killed are known to the police and law enforcement, and it is sad to say that most of them involved are young men.

“At this venture I want to appeal to the young men to add some value to life and livelihood, and that there is a purpose that you were born into this world for,” the ACP said, while adding that some people seem to have lost the humanitarian part of life.

“It is almost as if we have turned into beasts, and there seem to be no sort of conflict resolution skill among the young men,” and the vicious nature of some persons are seen when the police process crimes scenes,” he added.

“…we were not there when the crime was committed, but we are seeing the violence, we are seeing the hatred and the malice coming out from the crime scene, and it is evident that we need to find ways to reach out to these young men to say ‘violence is not the way to go, and there is no profitability in crime’…”ACP Bailey noted, while adding that some males are striving to become gang leaders and members of gangs, and want to be known as the “top dog”.

He said that history is showing that the lifespan associated with this lifestyle is short, and there is no practical benefit from being a criminal or being involved in criminality.

“…you are exposing yourself to harm and death. Exposing your family to unnecessary sufferation, and causing children to grow up without the nucleus of the entire family,” the Officer pointed out.

“There…is so much disadvantage in being a violent person, in being a member of any gang, in being armed with an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.

“There is no practical benefit from being with these things,” the ACP stressed, while adding that a criminal may enjoy a moment of pleasure but in the “twinkling of eye” that disappears and a family is left with grief.