National Security Council of TCI Reports; research now started on root cause of crime

By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#TurksandCaicos, August 21, 2022 – The National Security Council (NSC) is considering new ways to help curb crime and violence in the Turks and Caicos Islands after a crime ridden eight months.

A new National  Security Advisory group is in the works for the TCI and the NSC is finalizing membership but along with this group the NCS is also looking at making progress on the “informal settlements intervention initiative“ which is in the community engagement phase.

This phase will help the government to get demographic data about these settlements.

Premier Washington Misick had announced earlier this year that a powerful new task force able to act in conjunction with the police would be set up to deal with them as well.

“Under the oversight of the National Security Council (NSC), this team of experts will work with public and private sector stakeholders on a multi-year project to tackle this long-standing issue. This task force will tackle not only the obvious physical infractions but also the social problems that are associated with living in these communities of informal settlements,” he had said.

In addition to those updates the NSC is considering “potential practical solutions” to help reduce crime including offering cash rewards for information and revising public communications on crime.

Earlier this year, during a spate of violent crimes residents in the Turks and Caicos complained of being left out of the loop as the police communication with locals and the Media was poor.

The NCS also wants to improve CCTV camera coverage and explore amendments to the liquor licensing ordinance to include provisions to enhance public safety.

Over the past seven months there have been repeated incidents of public shootings including one at a bank and another at a gym both in broad daylight and more recently a shooting at a plaza and a drive-by involving two cars both at night.

Enhanced CCTV capabilities, especially along roadways and in public areas would be a definite boost to the country’s crime fighting arsenal.

Finally, the NCS reported that it is working along with the National Security Secretariat on a whole government and sustainable communities initiative research project which will seek to understand the root causes of crime and develop a voluntary code of conduct for private security firms.

This code of conduct was broached earlier this year but faced criticism and was stalled when security firms demanded deeper collaboration.

These latest recommendations at the NSC level come after a year plagued with reckless and often unprovoked violence against residents, homeowners and even tourists.

No timeline has been given for when these projects are expected to get underway.