TOTALLY OUTRAGEOUS
out·ra·geous
3 a: going beyond all standards of what is right or decent; violent
Outrageous.
That’s the only word for the cold-blooded homicide that occurred at Gov. Juan Luis Hospital Wednesday morning.
Somehow, in the early morning hours, five armed, masked men entered the hospital, incapacitated a guard, threatened maintenance personnel and made their way to Shadrach Frett’s hospital room on the third floor – where they shot him to death.
The victim was arrested last week after a shooting spree with Police that resulted in his injury. Police confiscated several weapons in the incident.
Outrageous.
There are so many issues here it is difficult to know where to begin. Why was an individual who was injured in a violent shootout that my have pertinent information for police not under more serious protection in the hospital? What is the state of hospital security that five men, with guns, could walk into the hospital unchallenged at 3 a.m., overpower the guard, incapacitate several employees, get to the third floor, kill a man, and escape without any resistance?
And, as of this writing, they are still at large in our community.
Outrageous.
Where are we safe?
It was only a few weeks ago that our children were terrorized when gunfire broke out during an armed robbery at the Stop and Save across from the D.C. Canageta ball park.
Imagine now the terror of the patients and employees in the hospital, as gunshots rang out all around them.
The common thread here? The weapons – the weapons and the violence they enable.
Every day we hear the complaints – gunshots in our community are the rule rather than the exception. We’re getting used to it. Our kids are growing up in an environment of tolerated lawlessness. And all we get are excuses – not enough money for law enforcement, not enough police on the street, too hard to monitor all the cargo that comes through our ports, and the list goes on.
Outrageous.
The root word of outrageous is outrage.
Why aren’t we?
Why aren’t we outraged that this gun-fueled mayhem continues to escalate, and is moving into areas where there’s no question we should feel safe? Those five armed men committed their crime in the hospital.
Why aren’t we outraged that our kids were a few yards away from tragedy?
Why aren’t we outraged that guns and the violence they breed are as common to us as the sand and the sea?
And how long are we going to take it?
I’m going to say this again. We are all responsible. Someone knows who those five men are; someone knows where they are; and someone knows where they got the guns.
Someone in law enforcement suffered a fatal lack of judgment and failed to realize the danger that Frett and his presence posed to those around him. Others in law enforcement have failed us consistently, and the guns continue to find their way into the Islands leaving blood in their wake.
If we don’t take a stand, and demand that this issue is addressed; if we don’t force law enforcement to find, prosecute and incarcerate those who commit these crimes; if we don’t insist on more vigilance from those who regulate our ports and the other avenues that these weapons are riding into the islands; then the violence will continue and people will continue to die.
And that would be the most outrageous thing of all.
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You always seem to be on point Michael, excellent article.
in•cred•u•lous
1: skeptical 2: expressing disbelief.
as in: Its incredulous that Michael Springer actually believes we don’t know he’s pretending to be E. Hansen.
We would be naive to think the police are here to protect us. They are only here to pick up the pieces and investigate crimes. We citizens of the US are given the right to bear arms. Why is it so many politicians wish us to be unarmed in the face of a violent, lawless criminal element? In Georgia, they just passed a law allowing the concealed carry of fire arms. We should do the same. What would decrease the rampant crime here is an armed, responsible populace unwilling to allow it to continue. The only realistic alternative is a police state, which I, for one, am not willing to consider.
I don’t agree with everything that Mr. Springer takes a stance on…..however he’s right on this issue. Hey, what do you have to hide….say your name. Stick with the issues rather than personalities, that’s why our goverment is in the predicament in which it is in now sir. You are probably working with this administration that’s why you have a issue with Mr. Springer.
THAT’S WHY I’M SPRING FOWARDING WITH SPRINGER IN 2008…..WHO ARE YOU SPRINGING FORWARD WITH, Juan Serville?
I agree there will be more outrageous acts of violence.It’s inevitable—as development increases, so does crime. Capitalism fosters greed. The rich people are never satisfy. The politicians and government officials are only concern about making money. Those who are aware of the gun smuggling operations are paid to keep their mouths shut. The only crooks going to jail are the street thugs. These hoodlums are on a course of self-destruction. The bigwigs do not care about them. Michael Springer, I implore you to propose ways to address this social problem. Simply putting them behind bars is not the answer. More jails would have to be constructed. The cycle will then continue.Let’s explore the root of the problem. Why do blacks hate each other so much?
Indigenous. As always, a thoughtful comment. And I agree,
more prisons are not the answer. But I think the root cause of the problem is twofold – a disgraceful educational system and the resulting extremely low expectations of the people who are subjected to it. I don’t mean to oversimplify the issue but this deficiency feeds into so many of the problems facing the VI today. The illiteracy rate hovers around 40%, and having lived and worked here, I think that number is conservative. Many, many teachers are not certified. Students “graduate” without the essential skills they need to become contributing members of the society. It’s the single most destructive barrier to any real progress in the territories. The situation has a devastating impact on the labor force. It’s all well and good to have a Stanford Financial on St. Croix,(a great addition) but how many of the executive and management level positions; how many of the skilled staff positions will be able to be filled from the local work force? And the issue is a problem through all levels of jobs – the cashier at Pueblo needs to know how to count.
Unemployment breeds crime. Poor skill sets and substandard education breed unemployment. And the cycle continues.
It’s not the only factor and an improved educational system will not get the thugs off the street who are terrorizing the community right now. But if we don’t want the future to look like the present, we’ve got to start somewhere.
The enemy is not capitalism – it’s ignorance.
The heinous acts of crime we are experiencing are directly connected to several factors which include poverty, the lack of rehabilitation for youth and adult offenders and the lack of meaningful job training opportunities. Given the current trend we can only expect that the criminals will become more and more brazen. The police department has many internal issues which are yet to be resolved, no to mention the lack of an adequate communication system, a modern crime lab and monies owed to the cops. Morale is low while stress is high. This combination is counter productive to law enforcement, yet many officers continue to give two hundred percent (200%). Any solution to this problem will begin with leaders who think outside the box, the outdated approach to crime fighting will not suffice.
The issue of violence in our community has little to do with politics; it has more to do with the hatred and neglect of young virgin islanders. When we stop looking down on our young people, categorizing them in totality as wicked and hopeless, we may see progress. The problem is that the young people have been left behind in pursuit of the elders’ greed. Here’s a tip: You guys won’t live forever. Who will be running these islands in 20-30 years?
How many elders’ are willing to take a young person under their wing as mentors/interns? Hundreds of college students leave this territory every year (at some of the nation’s most prestigious universities) and return in the summer to be treated as if they are thugs and killers. They are bombarded with comments about ‘the young’ and their idiocy, while looking around asking “are you serious?”
When you hold our young people (and yourselves, for that manner…I won’t even touch that one…) to high standard and stop embracing the ‘less than’ mentality, we will begin to see change. When women stop teaching their daughters to seek thugs and be impressed by idiots, we will see change. Until then…