Crime
Crime Wave just as bad as COVID wave, Residents demanding action
By Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, January 19, 2022 – “We need to take action against this crime immediately!” Was the call from one TCI resident over the weekend shared via social media and he is not alone. The consensus is that crime in the country seems out of control.
Residents are sharing their experiences and expressing frustration that no one official is facing the public during what is a doubly hard season; a spike in COVID which had the TCI inching ever so close to 1000 active cases and crime sprees where criminals are hitting multiple spots per night and there is a return of home invasions.
“Six armed men came here and robbed the store. They also robbed the Rooster Black next door and the Laundromat next door,” explained the man, a customer at one of the stores hit by a late afternoon heist on Saturday January 15.
The young man was making the comment to a cell phone camera, expressing his shock at the stream of crimes. That video was later shared and it spread like wildfire on the weekend.
Another resident voiced a friend’s harrowing experience in a social media voice note.
“Four guys [went] inside the house with masks and everything and the pointed guns at [her] mommy, her husband
There is an air of fear as violent incidents, robberies and home invasions rise amidst weak communications from the Royal TCI Police Force.
The Force eventually confirmed there were at least five home invasions in the Turks and Caicos between Thursday January 13 and Friday January 14 alone.
So far two suspects have been arrested Lorenzo Caesar, aged 36, and Stevenson Morris, aged 46 have been charged with aggravated burglary in connection with at least one of the robberies on Thursday. A teen, only 17 years old was also held with a firearm and ammunition over the weekend, after reportedly “shooting up at the club”.
Still residents are not convinced of their safety and confidence in the Police is on shaky ground, yet again.
As residents grappled with the report of such a young gun crime perpetrator, there came word of two people being fired upon on Sunday in Five Cays. Both were rushed to hospital. There has been no statement on the alleged ambush from authorities; but it seems both survived the hail of bullets.
In another public opinion, it said most concerning was that more dangerous gun wielding criminals were not being apprehended. The individual noted on social media that cutlass and machete using criminals were the “least of [the TCI’s] concerns when gunmen were on the loose”
It has been nearly a month since Premier Washington Misick promised to address crime in the New Year and two weeks since his National Security Council (NSC) meeting which he promised would be followed by a statement on crime.
In the past month, there have been four murders, at least three shootings and numerous armed burglaries of businesses, homes and individuals.
As the list of incidents grows longer there is no guidance, condemnation for the brutal acts or general updates forthcoming from the NSC, Police, Governor or the elected Government.