Police warns Paul’s Avenue group to stop blocking roads at night

A group of men in heated conversation with police officers on December 11, 2024 after officers removed barrels that were blocking the road.

People who use different objects to block the roads in the Paul’s Avenue area after certain hours, have been warned to stop this practice.

The word of warning has come from Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) with responsibility for fighting crime in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), Trevor “Buju” Bailey. He said on Hot 97.1 FM’s AM Mayhem morning show on December 12, 2024, that the practice of blocking the road is illegal, and people can be prosecuted.

Paul’s Avenue has become known for mass shootings that have claimed the lives of several persons. The most recent claimed the lives of three men on Saturday, November 30, 2024 some time after 4:00 a.m. when two masked men approached a group of persons and opened fire; one man survived the attack.

A group of men, some of whom operate in Paul’s Avenue, and others who live there, have been using different objects to prevent vehicles from utilizing the road networks in the area when it gets dark.

ACP Bailey made it clear that blocking the road is illegal and law enforcement would not tolerated it.

His comments came after an incident on Wednesday, December 11, 2024, when the police went to remove objects that were blocking the road, and were confronted by a group of men in the area. One man was detained, and a police officer discharged his firearm, apparently feeling threatened by the response from the group.

“It wasn’t an issue of arresting anyone last night…there are some persons who consistently block the road at night,” the lawman explained.

“…and whenever we see that…we would go and clear the road…so the barrels- those are some of the instruments that they use to block the road so we won’t just go and move them to the side of the road because soon as we leave, they would just go and block the road again,” Bailey said about the incident which was recorded and shared on social media.

He said officers usually take away whatever is used to block the road and while doing this last Wednesday, “they were putting up a little resistance…”.

The Assistant Commissioner said the men wanted the road to remain blocked but, “that type of lawlessness would not be tolerated”.

“…this is country that has rules and regulations that governs everyone, so we can’t allow the people to just block the road when they feel like, and say certain parts of St Vincent is cut off, only accessible to them alone. That can’t happen, we would never allow that,” Bailey stressed.

He added that while there may be a reason to have concerns, police patrol the area regularly, and officers are stationed in the area up until 6:00 p.m. then mobile patrols take over and appear at intervals.

“So, when we patrol and see this, we can’t deviate from the blockage and use another road. That can’t happen and that would not be allowed to happen.”

Bailey added that there are a lot of people in Paul’s Avenue who would like to see police in the area 24 hours a day, but there are those who do not want this.

“…they are engaged in some sort of criminal activity one way or the other, and would not appreciate the presence of the police, and you would see scenes like you have there last night because they are of the opinion that the police preventing us from doing what we want to do.”

In August this year, the senior officer said there are gangs operating in the country that are engaged in murder, narcotics, and robberies among other crimes, and the police would not allow these gangs to take over and lay any claim to any geographic space in the country.