By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#TurksandCaicos, November 2, 2022 – A rule of thumb for democratic nations worldwide is when extreme failings occur, whether violence, tragedies or humanitarian issues, Commissions of Inquiry are held to scrutinize the chain of events and whether proper procedure was followed to the letter, and if not, that those who failed are held responsible.

Residents of the Turks and Caicos Islands are now demanding there be a public probe into the handling of the most recent, heartless killing.  On Halloween night, a family of four was fired upon in the Dock Yard area of Providenciales; the lone survivor was the seven-year old daughter of the couple riddled with bullets.  Her three-year old brother and an unborn sibling did not make it.

The extreme cruelty of the triple homicide incensed the public, but  it was the nearly 12-hour time lapse between when shots were heard around 8:30pm October 31 and when police arrived at the scene, the following morning after being called there by residents, which has left people dumbfounded.

A cursory glance at the global scene and a recurring action plays out when it comes time for accountability amidst anarchy.

The US is currently going through inquiries into the January 6th riots and that is aimed at drawing even the former president to answer to his actions or inactions when the deadly mob swarmed the federal build.  Swing further north and in an ongoing inquiry, questions were put to a Canadian Police Chief who resigned over a ‘declining level of trust’ in the Trucker convoy protests which shut down Ottawa.

Jump to another continent, in South Korea an investigation is opened into the Halloween crush where more than 150 people died and as the Turks and Caicos reels in a wave of deadly gang-related violence, a demand and revelation about three weeks ago from Alvin Garland, the PDM’s appointed member in the House of Assembly becomes especially poignant.

“This house has to approve the funding for the police department every year but this house cannot enquire— into anything in the police department. The legislature which is responsible for scrutinizing the affairs of government is restricted from appointing a committee for the purpose of inquiring into the current state of affairs which is in the public interest. The legislature should not be prohibited or restricted from being able to appoint a select committee given this present time and what is taking place in our country.” he said referencing reserve powers given to the Governor which bar the House of Assembly from calling a detailed enquiry to the Police Forces operations.

Back then Garland had criticized the constitutional setup as undemocratic.

“Because he has this reserve power— the elected members in this house that are elected by the people to represent the interests of the people in a time like this, when you have a very crucial situation which needs to be addressed by this house— are restricted, this is far from a democracy.”

All this was before the public was alerted to the fact that our officers are on the street without an insurance policy. This was before accusations of poor police response time in the incident that left three dead and a young girl alone and afraid in a car with her deceased family just inches away.

By Wednesday, the police reports were updated but still lacking key details including confirmation of the woman’s pregnancy and the condition of the child survivor who witnessed the entire onslaught and sat stewing at the scene for hours.

The age of the baby boy, the Police confirmed as three years old and the girl child, as seven. The only survivor of the massacre, she was apparently bleeding heavily when she was found.

Some resident’s reject the idea that it was a triple murder instead counting what may have been the woman’s unborn child as in photos of the incident she appeared heavily pregnant. Many say that means four lives, not three.

Repeated reports reaching Magnetic Media are that shots were fired early on the final night of October.  Still, residents got up Tuesday morning and stumbled on the horrific scene before any officers arrived.  These passersby likely contaminated the crime scene and reduced hopes of catching the murderer or murderers behind the brutal crime.

The situation, left for far too long is again fueling the unspoken understanding, that members of the Royal TCI Police never head into live fire.

UPDATED