Jan. 1, 2008 — St. Thomas-St. John Police Chief Rodney Querrard and other officials pulled no punches at a Monday press conference, painting a troubling picture of a community suffering from a "social issue" of minors emulating the worst examples in the media and parents afraid to keep tabs on their children's activities or whereabouts.
The bottom line, Querrard said, is that neither the VIPD nor the Department of Education can continue baby-sitting the territory's youth, and without more parental involvement, many of these crimes — from burglaries to homicides — will continue.
"Parents, if you know that your child has a firearm, please report it," Querrard said during a joint press conference held on both St. Thomas and St. Croix. "Because if you don't, it's either going to result in your kid getting arrested or getting killed in one of these turf wars."
Querrard said many juvenile offenders these days "just don't care" about the consequences of their actions, and will "go out and shoot a bunch of people" simply to "go down in a blaze of glory."
"It starts in the home," Querrard said. "We have to do this together, really live up to the adage, 'it takes a village to raise a child.'"
Meanwhile, police said they are taking a "proactive" approach to fighting criminals on the streets, and with help from community members, have been able to improve their response time and arrest rate for incidents that have occurred over the past month. Working in tandem with the attorney general's office, VIPD has been able to execute a number of search warrants that have led to various drug and gun busts, and a higher conviction rate in both districts, according to Police Commissioner James H. McCall.
"The murder rate is still too high, especially for this community," McCall said. "But while we cannot prevent all these homicides from occurring, we are doing a pretty good job at apprehending the criminals and getting them off the streets."
While the territory's number of homicides this year was 44, officials said that statistics don't show overall crime rates increasing. While the number of homicides in 2007 is four more than those reported in 2006, the number of cases in other categories have either decreased or stayed the same.
To stave off any spike in criminal activity over the holidays, police officers — led by Sgt. Dwayne DeGraff, head of the Special Operations Bureau — have taken to the streets, conducting traffic stops and tackling "hot spots" throughout the territory.
"Our stepped-up effort began about 20 days ago and from time to time has involved specialized units of the VIPD, patrol officers and some federal agents," Querrard said. "But what is important for us to tell the community is that this tougher position on lawlessness will continue. These crimes won't be tolerated any more."
Highlights from recent raids include:
— on Dec. 19, a raid on "hot spots" throughout the St. Thomas-St. John district led to the arrest of Korda Cornelius — a resident of the Tutu High Rise Housing Community on St. Thomas — the confiscation of 13 dime bags of marijuana, and the recovery of a 9 millimeter handgun with accompanying ammunition;
— traffic stops carried out on St. Thomas by special operations officers have led to various traffic-related citations and the recovery of at least one firearm;
— a crackdown on the waterfront area of St. Thomas has netted several dime bags of marijuana, and the arrest of St. Thomas resident Joffrey Mills, who was charged with the possession of an unlicensed firearm.
Retired police officers are also being brought on board to work in the department's newly formed Cold Case Squad, Querrard said, and will also be helping out in the forensics unit.
At the Alexander A. Farrelly Criminal Justice Complex on St. Thomas, officers displayed a few of the weapons recovered over the past few months.
"We have found a knife, shaped like a handgun and carried in a case that looks like a holster," he explained. "So it actually appears to be a firearm. If we were in a situation, where an individual reaches for a weapon like this, police are going to think it's a gun, and fire back.
"We are also seeing individuals carrying pen guns — this is actually a firearm that is the same size as a regular pen you carry around in your pocket. The only difference is that it can actually kill you."
While McCall and Querrard said some of these weapons are coming from outside the territory — one gun was recently traced to a crime committed in Georgia, Querrard said — a majority of them are legally registered in the territory.
"These weapons have either been stolen, or lost and not reported," McCall explained.
Though community members have been more vigilant in coming forward with information, many still harbor a negative perception of police officers, officials said. Most recently, community suspicions have been fueled by the arrest of St. Croix Police Officer Jeffrey Browne, who was charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder and first-degree assault, in connection with a Christmas morning shooting spree at the JFK Housing Community.
While most of the information in the case is under seal as the investigation into Browne and St. Croix resident Luis "Gulio" Melendez continues, officials did say on Monday that the arrest shows that "no one is above the law."
"This is not a bad day for the VIPD," said St. Croix District Police Chief Thomas Hannah. "This is a day that we put one of our own in jail for his alleged involvement in a shooting spree that occurred on St. Croix. We want the community to understand that no one is above the law. We didn't put him in there — he did it to himself. People need to understand that, and respect the Police Department and its officers for their hard work."
While Hannah added that VIPD officials would be accessible to the public at all times, Querrard said that the department is actively working to turn around the public's negative perception.
"It is time to change the image of the VIPD," he said. "And the first step in that process, which we have been trying to do, is get our officers to do their jobs, and do them right."
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