Police not proud of 2022 homicide record

The Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force is not proud of the 2022 homicide record.

This statement was made by Commissioner of Police (COP), Colin John on Friday, December 30 2022 at the annual Police awards and dinner which took place at the Russell’s Auditorium in Stoney Ground under the theme “Amidst the challenges, we continue to Care, Serve and Protect.”

The ceremony saw numerous officers such as Sergeant Biorn Duncan and Corporal Lafleur Williams being awarded for their exemplary performance in the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force (RSVGPF).

However, before the officers were awarded, Commissioner John urged the members of the RSVGPF to do some self assessment in order to improve their service to the country.

“This is a time for awards but it would be remiss of me not to mention some things that we can do better or some ways in which the RSVGPF… fell short. We have to ask ourself, when we look at ‘team’ and when we look at the word service, is our service satisfactory? Are the people of SVG getting value for their money by the service of the RSVGPF? That is a question that every police officer should ask themself and answer honestly.”

John added that though the RSVGPF has done a lot of things right, there are still some areas that need to be improved.

“We were able throughout 2022 to get 35 firearms off of the street, but we had 42 homicides which is [a] record that we are not proud of. We have had 26 police band concerts, but we have had 30 reports of police abuses on the public. We have performed several duties as outriders in the traffic department but we have had even more reports of police officers approaching the public in an impolite manner. We have to examine ourself. We cannot give a pail of milk and then turn around and kick it over, so we have to, for 2023, do some honest self introspection and ensure that we perform better in the areas that we fell short in 2022. We have to work harder to perfect the police product,” the Commissioner urged.

“It is not beyond us. We only have to adopt the principle of treating people the way we want to be treated or as the Bible said, love your neighbours as yourself. It’s as basic and simple as that.”

Commissioner John also spoke of the “numerous” and “diverse” challenges that the police force has undergone.

“They range from drug crimes, gun crimes, sexual offences, natural disasters, pandemics.

“ Some of these challenges we have no control over but we have to face those challenges. We are surrounded by water and that poses several challenges to us in terms of the gun trafficking and drug trafficking throughout St. Vincent and the Grenadines.”

He further stated that some these crimes are partially caused by the demand for drugs, the demand for guns, the greed of mankind, and the selfishness of mankind, “but as the theme said ‘we’ as a collective, we acknowledge challenges that we face from time to time and we have to face it as a police force and as the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.”

He continued “The challenges would be there, we do not know what challenges they would be but we are certain there would be challenges. We do not know the level of the challenges either but once we are properly prepared, we would surmount the various challenges. We would be able to sing and say with confidence, What e’er the future brings, our faith in God, our faith in the RSVGPF, our faith in the supportive citizens of SVG, our faith in ourself will see us through.”

John thanked the citizens of SVG for their continued support to the RSVGPF in their crime fighting efforts and assured that with the cooperation of the members of the RSVGPF and the citizens of SVG, the police force would do better as it marches valiantly into 2023.