The rate of certain serious crimes in the Virgin Islands has skyrocketed this year, but Governor Daniel Pruce insisted on Tuesday that authorities have the situation under control as he outlined plans for wide-ranging security reforms.
Robberies surged by 58 percent between January and September compared with the same period in 2024 — and they were up 131 percent over the average of the past five years, Mr. Pruce revealed at a press conference held Tuesday morning.
Firearms, he added, were used in 25 of the 30 total robberies perpetrated through September of this year.
Serious assaults rose by nine percent in the same timeframe, while motor vehicle theft climbed 15.5 percent and minor assaults increased by eight percent.
Police, however, have been fighting back: In the first eight months of the year, the governor said, they recovered 18 firearms and 1,146 rounds of ammunition.
Despite the rising crime rates, the governor denied that he has lost control of the situation.
“You may choose to characterise it that way,” he said in response to a question at the press conference. “I think the reality is across the board all agencies that can contribute to the safety and security of the islands are working hard to achieve that.”
Mr. Pruce also claimed the crime pattern here is consistent with the wider Caribbean region.
“The [VI] trends in recent months have not been in a positive direction, which is why we are redoubling our efforts to address it,” he added.
The governor’s Tuesday announcement came following a string of serious crimes, including several armed robberies, a Monday morning shooting in Fahie Hill, and the escape of two serious offenders from the Balsam Ghut prison last month.
Violent crimes
Mr. Pruce, who is responsible for law and order in the territory, said the police and other government agencies are implementing various reforms and working with law enforcers abroad to tackle the rising crime.
He also announced that he had received funding from London to appoint a senior strategic security adviser to his office early next year.
Additionally, he pledged that a security strategy and an anti-crime strategy will be developed using input from the recent Anti-Crime Summit.
“We’ve had a number of reports and analyses of how the security and justice sector within the territory is operating and where things could improve and be developed, so I think the security and justice strategy will give us a strategic context for taking that work forward and also help us foster greater coherence between the various agencies involved,” he said.
The governor also pledged to establish a community advisory group to advise the National Security Council.
“It became very clear [during the Anti-Crime Summit] that the knowledge and the insights that members of the public, civil society and the community can bring to the NSC’s work is incredibly valuable, so I want to find a way to institutionalise that through the creation of an advisory group,” he said. “We will seek to take that forward in the coming months.”
Police radios
Another problem discussed during the summit concerned police communications, according to the governor.
“The radio-communications capability of the police has just not been the same since Hurricane Irma,” he said.
To address the issue, he is drawing on UK support.
“We have already welcomed a subject matter expert to the Virgin Islands,” he said. “He was able to visit last month and work closely with the [police] and the director of the 911 emergency response centre.”
New network planned
The expert also assessed the police force’s current communication systems and explored options to develop a new radio network, according to the governor.
“A paper for the Cabinet, which will set out some of the detail of this proposal and costings attached, is under preparation — and I think is quite close to being finalised,” he said.
A second stage of the project, he added, will involve sending a police officer and the director of the 911 centre to Anguilla to learn about the systems in place there.
Radar system
A radar system is also in the works to enable “real-time monitoring” of the territory’s waters, according to the governor.
“We were able to welcome the UK’s Joint Maritime Security Centre to the [VI] recently, and they have since then been developing plans to improve the [VI’s] maritime-domain awareness,” he said.
The UK centre, he said, has recently installed coastal radar systems in Anguilla and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
“We will see how those two systems work in practice, and the JMSC will learn the lessons from those two territories to help inform the installation of a similar system in the [VI], which I expect to happen next year,” he said.
Prison reforms
The governor also provided an update on plans for the prison, which he said include expanding facilities for juveniles, repairing infrastructure, and launching a strategy.
“That will be a long-term programme of work, and one which obviously will require funding,” he said. “At this stage, we are drawing on UK expertise to help diagnose the best approach and also help with the design and the planning moving forwards.”
In the meantime, the governor urged residents to take security measures but remain “calm” in the wake of the Oct. 25 escape of inmates Jose Almestica and John Burgos, who remain at large.
In addition to an internal inquiry into the prison break, he said, he has also been given the support of the British Ministry of Justice in setting up an “independent external investigation” into the matter.
Mr. Pruce added that he has been in contact with Interpol and other Caribbean countries and territories in relation to the escape.
The governor would not be drawn on suggestions that some security cameras at the prison had been obscured by overgrown bush.
British Caribbean News
