Officers attached to the V.I. Police Department’s Crime Initiative arrested a St. Thomas man Wednesday evening.
According to the VIPD news release, Peter John Francis, Jr., age 30, of Estate Frydenhoj was charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.
The Crime Initiative program was titled 10-Day Rush 2. Officers conducted intelligence-led saturated patrols in the Red Hook and surrounding areas, where they found Francis in possession of more than the personal use limits of marijuana.
St. Thomas/St. John/Water Islands Chief of Police Steven Phillip commended the officers for the arrest and the confiscation of the controlled substance.
“We will continue this Virgin Islands Crime Initiative in our efforts to get drugs and guns off our streets,” Phillip said.
According to Public Information Officer Toby Derima, the Virgin Islands Crime Initiative is a focused, information and intelligence-led approach to identify violent offender and violent crimes affecting Virgin Islanders.
“The strategy involved using data and intelligence to identify potential violators. This information was acquired from our Intelligence Unit and the Planning and Research Bureau. Officers and crime analysts worked to create intelligence-driven analytics to identify the ‘right” people,’ the ‘trigger pullers’ for criminal prosecution,” Derima said.
Officers in each district were selected to work for the crime initiative team, Derima said. Police look at the days of the week and the times of the day that shootings occurred and locations of shooting incidents in attempt to optimize their resources. Additionally, the team conducted traffic stops that lead to more serious charges, including felons in possession of firearms.
Police urged citizens to continue calling the anonymous tip service, Crime Stoppers USVI, at 1-800-222-8477 (1-800-222-TIPS).