Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
#TCISportsCommission, February 14th, 2024 – The TCI Sports Commission has taken a strong position on gun violence, especially in its proximity to sporting events, describing the most recent incident as an abhorrent and vicious travesty and vowing a strong security presence at its events.
“We cannot overstate the shock experienced by the school, community, attendees, and event hosts that such a violent act could take place not just in the surrounding area of the school but also in the middle of the day, while a school event is taking place,” said Jarrett Forbes, Director of Sports after the Thursday, February 8th shooting death of Jockeem Misick in full view of students.
The killing drew condemnation and horror from residents when its proximity to the event was revealed. School remained closed on Friday and Psychiatrists and detectives were flown into the capital in response to the event, to comfort traumatized students and help find the killers.
Magnetic Media had questioned the commission on what security measures had been in place at the event and Forbes maintained that:
“While the School Sports Day occurred at a facility managed by the TCISC, the event was hosted by the HJ Robinson High School. We can confirm, however, that a reasonable security strategy was implemented by the school’s administration, based on the nature and timing of the event.”
Not only were crowd control measures in full swing, but the Director also said school security was on site and police officers were conducting periodic stops throughout the day.
It’s the second incident in the capital in six months where a young man was killed at a community event, following the stabbing death of Sevano Wilson Jr. on Youth Day (September 29th) 2023.
Now, the Commission is promising that a strict security strategy will be in place for major sporting events, including a ‘strong continuous presence’ of the Royal TCI Police Force (RTCIPF), both on the inside of the venue and patrolling the surrounding area; professional security services; screening of all persons entering the premises; crowd control strategies; strictly enforced venue rules; and lock down or evacuation plans.
The Sports Commission says this response may not be available for all events.
“We must however be judicious as to what is the risk assessment at a smaller sports event such as a School Sports Day, and we must determine what reasonable level of security is required to safeguard the students and visiting spectators,” Forbes maintained.
With this in mind, the Director says he is ready and willing to meet with schools and the police to conduct risk assessments of their various sporting events.
The Royal Turks and Caicos Islands police did not respond to our requests for comment on the shooting and their presence at the sports day; they have, however, indicated three suspects were arrested.
