One killing is too many. This year, the Virgin Islands has seen seven in six months.
Should this pace continue through December — which we fervently hope won’t happen — the territory’s 2017 murder rate could reach a level commensurate with some of the most dangerous countries in the region.
Nevertheless, residents shouldn’t panic. While such numbers are important to consider, they likely represent an anomalous spike in a small population rather than a long-term trend.
Indeed, over the years the VI has mostly maintained its historically low murder rate, and it remains one of the safest archipelagos in the Caribbean.
To ensure that it stays that way, however, the territory must fight back with a collective response.
Police, of course, are on the front lines. They should take every possible step to solve the recent murders and to prevent more in the future.
So far, their progress has been slow in terms of arrests: Of the seven killings this year, they have charged only one person with murder. We trust, though, that much work is going on behind the scenes, and that more arrests will come soon.
Police have complained about a scarcity of resources, a troubling claim that has been echoed recently by Governor John Duncan, who appropriated additional funding for them this year. These extra resources — which we hope will herald more robust support in the future as well — should help bolster their response to the recent crimes.
But even with the best resources, police can’t do it alone. They also need the full support of the community, which too often has been lacking in large part because potential witnesses refuse to come forward. Such reluctance enables lawbreakers, and it is particularly unconscionable now that a witness protection programme is in place and tips can be reported anonymously through the Miami-based Crime Stoppers hotline.
Anyone with information about a killing — no matter how minor it may seem — should come forward immediately. To help encourage such cooperation, police should continue hosting public meetings and launching other outreach efforts to build trusting relationships.
Residents should also work together to send a signal that violent crime will not be tolerated. The recent march and concert organised by the Lions Club and other community members were steps in the right direction. Though the turnout was rather disappointing, it was good to see residents taking substantive action, and we hope that others will follow suit.
Non-profit groups are well positioned to take a leading role in such efforts, as are churches, which traditionally have served as the territory’s moral backbone in many ways.
To complement such initiatives, it is important to reach out to troubled young people and help them see the alternatives to a life of crime.
We also would like to hear a more vocal outcry from leaders when any streak of violent crime takes place. Police Commissioner Michael Matthews might start by calling a press conference — perhaps alongside the premier and the governor — to denounce the recent killings and provide the public with a comprehensive update on the ongoing response to them.
Elected leaders should weigh in as well, though they should eschew finger pointing and work together to put forward specific solutions for discouraging all types of violent crime. They also should also take a hard look at recent claims that the police have perennially received short shrift in the annual budget deliberations in part because they are the governor’s responsibility.
Ultimately, the entire territory should be working together to ensure that murder never becomes business as usual in these islands.
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