Political Rewind Vol1 Ed2: Governor deJongh on crime
With crime continuing unabated, we decided to revisit Governor deJongh’s speech, dated the 21st of February 2007, when he named James McCall the new Commissioner of Police. The following excerpts from the Governor’s speech stand out as broken promises:
“We all know the problem, we know it is real, and we know it is intolerable…44 unsolved murders over the past two years are not acceptable; a riot on a high school campus is not acceptable; the 125 burglaries on St. John last year, without a single arrest or conviction, are not acceptable. I believe that we have all come to the point, no, we have gone past the point, that enough is enough!”
“We must choose order and opportunity over chaos and crime.”
“I have made it clear to our police department, to the Attorney General and to the Federal agencies with whom we must work, and with whom I have met, that I expect action and I expect it now! I want to hear about more illegal weapons taken off of our streets, and less about known criminals not being prosecuted. I want to see and hear of positive changes.”
“We will work on many things at once. We may not get it all done, but I would rather have a problem with too many violent criminals crowding our jails than too many violent criminals hanging out on our street corners. This is not about threats and rhetoric, but about the systematic targeting of criminal activity. It is about getting the forensics done right and on time. And it is about all of us working together to save the futures of our children. We must not fail to keep them safe and to provide them with the hope and the skills of a crime-free future.”
“Commissioner McCall knows what needs to be done and how to do it.”
“Throughout last year, I spoke of the need to empower a commissioner to select district police chiefs and to run an efficient and effective department of police. I have full confidence that Commissioner McCall understands what needs to be done and will get it done.”
“These are his orders and that is his duty, not just to me, but to the people of the Virgin Islands.”
Governor, it’s time to deliver on your promises to the people of the Virgin Islands.
* Click here to access the full text of the Governor’s speech.
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Things on St. John are worst now. The burglaries are still up and unsolved, man shot 18 times with AK47 first homicide of the year territory wide unsolved. Tourist beaten downtown Cruz Bay. Reports of shot fired regularly tourist regularly robbed at villas. You kidding. No speech?