After seeing plenty of high-profile robberies, sex crimes and even homicides in the news, candidates for the House of Assembly have been offering their own take on how to resolve the Virgin Islands’ crime problem.
“These murders, robberies and burglaries that are on steady increase will destroy the confidence that potential investors may have in our country,” said National Democratic Party at-large candidate Myron Walwyn in a written statement. “It will cause our country to be less attractive to potential tourist[s], and it would reduce our confidence in ourselves as citizens.”
In a nonscientific survey conducted by this newspaper last spring, respondents were asked to list their choices for the top priorities of the next government. More chose crime than chose any other issue, and survey participants ranked possibilities for tackling the problem, with stiffer penalties for offenders and programmes for young people ranking particularly high.
Candidates have offered similar advice, with Opposition Leader Dr. Orlando Smith in a recent statement calling for “stiff minimum sentences” for firearm possession, and “stiffer minimum mandatory sentences” for offenders using guns to commit crimes.
Preston Stoutt, an independent candidate for the First District seat now held by Education and Culture Minister Andrew Fahie, has also called for stiffer penalties for firearm and drug-trafficking offences in his campaign literature.
At Virgin Islands Party rallies, at-large representative Vernon Malone, a former police commissioner, has been speaking extensively about crime. Speaking to the Beacon last week, he advocated a mandatory ten-year sentence for gun crime, citing a number of recent police seizures of firearms, including “heavy weapons” like AK-47s. He also called for judges to consider sentences closer to the maximum already allowed by law.
See the Oct. 20, 2011 edition for full coverage.