#TurksandCaicos, October 10, 2022 – Good day Turks and Caicos, it’s Monday 10^th October 2022 and I am speaking to you from Police Headquarters with an update on the policing and security situation.

The shooting incidents of last Sunday, (02^nd October), remains very shocking. Our thoughts remain with those who died and those who were injured.

Regarding the attack on your Police Officers, the injured officer is making steady progress in his recovery and he is receiving support from his colleagues and medical staff. As a Force, we have been touched by the support given to the officers who continuously place themselves in danger every day and every night to keep you safe. Do not doubt how deeply your support is felt and I ask that this continues over the coming weeks and months.

Your police officers are absolutely committed to dealing with the issues and we will remain resolute in this, despite the abhorrent attack on law enforcement officers a week ago.

In the last seven days, an arrest has been made of a person of interest who remains in custody in connection with their involvement in serious crime, possession of a firearm and ammunition and a quantity of drugs.

In addition, large quality of drugs was also recovered in the Bight area over the weekend and this is now under investigation.

You will be aware following addresses by the Governor, Hon Premier and myself that support had been sought from the region, UK and the US towards policing and other law enforcement activities with an aim to reinforce the capability and capacity of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force in tackling the significant surge in gang related violence.

I was delighted to swear in 24 experienced Police Officers from the Royal Bahamas Police Force who arrived on the Turks and Caicos Islands last week. They have been briefed and are now operationally deployed with their RTCIPF colleagues on the streets and communities of the TCI, both within our Tactical Unit and in our Response and Operational Teams. The team includes two policing K9 dogs to support officers during their work.

Having spent time with them, it gives me great confidence to see how committed, experienced and ready they are to support us in making the TCI safe and secure. I am grateful to the Government of the Bahamas and the Royal Bahamas Police Force Commissioner for their complete support given to the TCI and by extension the Force. Such support reflects the close relationship of our two countries and the already established protocols and partnerships that already exist within law enforcement.

I am also in contact with the Commissioner of Police in Jamaica to discuss how they might support the RTCIPF in the coming weeks and months. Again, I am grateful for the offer of support for us and the assistance from other jurisdictions demonstrates the strength of regional law enforce collaboration.

I believe the contingent from the Royal Bahamas Police Force will make a significant impact on policing operations. Any additional support in terms of armed officers is not being requested at this moment however, this remains under constant review during the period that the team from the Bahamas are with us and beyond their initial deployment.

Additionally, on-going discussions are being held with the UK as to policing support in the near future. The Governor will address this in a statement tomorrow, Tuesday.

I am pleased to update that a large contingent of experienced UK investigators will be arriving in the next three weeks to support the work of my serious crime unit with investigations of murders and gang related activity. This deployment will be of 18 – 24 months and will provide a significant uplift in capacity for the Force. I am again grateful to the UK government for funding this enhancement to policing on the Turks and Caicos Islands.

More broadly, the protection of the border of the Turks and Caicos Islands is important, given we believe that some of the people involved in serious and gang crime are entering the TCI illegally. Our work in protecting the border is being supported by the US Customs and Border Protection who have deployed specialist surveillance aircraft on the Turks and Caicos for at least the next month.

This aircraft is working closely with our Marine Branch to identify and intercept any vessel of interest.

This deployment reflects the strong partnerships with US law enforcement to protect the TCI borders and the region and we are grateful for the continued collaboration.

Whilst the support we have or will be receiving is very welcome, the crime situation remains a concern and we remain steadfast and committed in dealing with the issues for as long as it takes. To be clear, criminals are hiding in plain sight, within some of our communities and we continue to need your help.

I am very thankful for the help we have received to date. The information supplied by you will make a difference. Please continue to tell us what you know, either directly or through Crime Stoppers.

There are other ways you can assist. Criminals are using the roads and despite having an effective CCTV system, it can be challenging to detect them through the use of illegal dark window tints and the absence of number plates attached to their cars. This is compounded by the number of cars, owned by law abiding citizens, who are also using illegal dark tints and who have not yet collected their registration plate from Road Safety.

I am making a direct plea to anyone, who has illegal dark tints. REMOVE THEM IMMEDATELY, by not doing so you are assisting criminals to avoid detection by allowing them to hide and drive amongst us.

Also, please collect your registration plate from Road Safety as a matter of urgency. If you do these two things, we can focus our activity on those who are not complying namely the criminals, and this will assist officers in their work. In the future, I anticipate that the Ordinance will change in relation to dark tints so please make the changes now, help us to better protect you.

By necessity, there will be a zero tolerance where vehicles do not have registration plates or who have illegal tints in their car windows. I make no apology for this. Get your registration plates and remove your tints. Do what you can do to help us.

In summary, the Force is committed to dealing with the crime issues. I have often said we need support given the scale of the surge in gang related serious crime. That support has now arrived and more will follow and these arrangements remain under constant review.

You will see more operational Police Officers on the streets of the Turks and Caicos Islands in the coming weeks and more operations will be undertaken within communities. This is what you can do to help us protect you;

1. Ensure your vehicle has a registration plate
2. Remove all tints from the front windows of your car or at least those tints which are illegal
3. Comply with all instructions from police officers when you are stopped in road checks or other policing activity
4. When your vehicle is stopped at night, for your safety, turn on your interior lights so officers can better see you and other people within your car
5. Continue to tell us what you know, however, insignificant you think the information is.

Further updates will follow as policing operations continue, day and night across Providenciales and other sister Islands as required. Thank you again for the support given to the men and women of the Force, they are working hard for you.

May god bless you and these beautiful by nature Turks and Caicos Islands.

Thank you