Providenciales, TCI, October 24, 2016 – “Over the past near four years, the issue of crime and border control has been one of those areas in national life that drew my, as well as my Party’s keen attention. It is unfortunate that I am again speaking to this issue after a criminal spree over the weekend that saw a series of serious offenses committed which included the physical attack on a young lady. The PDM continues to be concerned about crime and the recent spate over the past few days only heighten our concerns.”
“Whilst persons will say we are out of control and others will say we must be guarded as we are a tourist destination. I say we are neither at the place that we wish to live in nor one that tourists will like to see. The recent crimes continue to be out of character for us and at a level and of a sort that we must never before seen nor can we accept even at the expense of development.”
“My Party and I have already sought an audience with the Commissioner of Police and Governor Freeman to ensure that all is being done to minimize as much as possible the recent spike in crime. We will also begin a dialogue with Flow and Digicel to implement a free non – emergency number to contact Police.”
“We continue to recognize the importance for stronger and better Police/People relations and will seek to initiate crime prevention programs between the Police and the People. Since last year we began our call for Neighborhood Watch Groups and we will again renew these efforts. However, we will immediately embark on the establishment of a Citizens Advisory Board to advise Police which would foster a better relationship between Police and the People.”
“We have over the years called for a Symposium, for a national dialogue, for stronger and innovative leadership of the Police and Border Control with new crime fighting tools that will outmatch today’s criminals. We have released a 12 Point Plan publicly for use by the authorities. We renew our call today again to take the fight to crime as crime has certainly taken its fight to our very own homes. We wish to reemphasize the need to never politicize crime or to use it as a political football and we remind all to continue to recognize that the powers, day to day operations and ultimate responsibility lies with the Governor and the Commissioner of Police. We must however see ourselves as critical stakeholders and partners in the fight.”
“As we hear also of the recent Prison break from a Prison described by Haiti as “violent”, we are cognizant of the fact that it is highly possible that escapees can make their way here to our shores. To this end, whilst we acknowledge the Government’s call for heightened alert of our systems and for the UK to patrol our waters, we call for a high level dialogue with our partners in OPBAT, the Coast Guard and the Royal Navy. These are unusual times and we believe that we do have a strong position for heightened assistance. We can ill afford to become a safe haven to any of these escapees.”
“In the mean time we continue to ask our citizens and residents to form neighborhood watch groups, report suspicious behavior to Police, report any sloops that you may have knowledge of that may have TCI as its destination and do not harbor any illegal or criminals. This requires all hands on deck. A safer TCI depends on all of us. We remain eager to assist as citizens and to be a more active and meaningful partner with those who have the constitutional and financial authority to curb this tide.”
