Crime in Our Community

Native Son,
Thank you for your post. Would you mind elaborating your your mention of pit-bull breeders. I abhor the breeding of dogs to fight, and in my own mind have already formed an opinion of that ilk of slime, but I guess I still have some naivete when it come to who to look out for. Not surprising to think that dog fighters/killers are also peoplel killers. I already know there is a psychological connection.

I'm being a bit more cautious this week, but I think, and hope, it will return to normal soon. I am planning to go to the Chamber event tomorrow on community crime. We'll see!!!

RE:
"I've got no horse in this race, but I believe your analogies don't hold up. I believe the people here are generally talking 'street crime', crimes of opportunity.

There is still some questions on whether the woman had ingested the drugs or alcohol.
"
Maybe they don't hold up...however, the people who were killed are no less dead. Dead is dead whether by street crime or wrong-way SUV.

We can talk about crime all we want, but don't characterize my St. Croix as being less safe than anywhere else. I am ex-military and I have lived all over the world. You are safe to the extent that you keep alert and keep your wits about you. You have to be aware of your surroundings and try to blend. Go where the locals go. Do not create what may appear to be little enclaves of exclusivity...these may attract undue attention.

RE:
"Native Son,
Thank you for your post. Would you mind elaborating your your mention of pit-bull breeders. I abhor the breeding of dogs to fight, and in my own mind have already formed an opinion of that ilk of slime, but I guess I still have some naivete when it come to who to look out for. Not surprising to think that dog fighters/killers are also peoplel killers. I already know there is a psychological connection.

I'm being a bit more cautious this week, but I think, and hope, it will return to normal soon. I am planning to go to the Chamber event tomorrow on community crime. We'll see!!!

Juanita on STX
"

The bushes around the projects are full of dog-breeding facilities. You can always tell when there is going to be a fight because the owners are busy walking their dogs during the week....always a pit bull. You rarely see them walk dogs on the weekend. JUst my observation.

The people who breed dogs for fighting are engaged in an illegal activity. However, profiling people simply because they are walking a dog is wrong, I know....

You can usually see and smell the results of the previous weekend's dogfights. The losers are wrapped in plastic bags and dumped at various locations, sometimes right on my street.

Shame on them.

people that do not live in the projects breed pits and roosters for fighting as well...usually they take them and put them in a pen or in an unused cistern and do not feed them for a time up to the fight...makes them hungrier...and meaner...seen it often when i lived there...so it is just not in the project areas that this breeding for fighting occurs...not at all. your friendly wapa man or hess employee, for example (and one would rarely know they are doing this), is just as apt to have a pit for fighting as a youth from the projects...is a big moneymaking vibe, albiet one that i abhor.

Front page - Today's (8/13) Avis. - Shooting suspect placed on house arrest

Magistrate allows suspect arrested in a gun crime to go free pending trial with a $7,500 bond (10% of 75k bail). Oh, I'm sorry - not free, just house arrest, without any monitoring device, under a third party custodian. When this person was arrested the cops found a variety of firearms (including auto/semi-auto high power weapons), ammunition, crack, marijuana, bulletproof vests, cuffs etc.... But it's ok to let him go home. Doesn't that make you feel safe.

Until there is accountabilty in our justice system how can we expect society to behave in a responsible and just manner? If there is no punishment (as evident by all the ultimately 'dismissed charges') where is the incentive for enforcement (VIPD) to perform their duties professionally?

Much easier to set up roadside traffic stops and hand out fines for seatbelt/cellphone/registration violations than it is to try to get a conviction for a serious crime. If your a cop, or witness, involved in a serious crime case why risk yourself knowing that the courts will release the suspect under 'house arrest'.

Change needs to begin with a judicial system that has teeth. Let's start holding the prosecutors and judges accountable.

But that's just my opinion.... I could be wrong 🙂

people that do not live in the projects breed pits and roosters for fighting as well...usually they take them and put them in a pen or in an unused cistern and do not feed them for a time up to the fight...makes them hungrier...and meaner...seen it often when i lived there...so it is just not in the project areas that this breeding for fighting occurs...not at all. your friendly wapa man or hess employee, for example (and one would rarely know they are doing this), is just as apt to have a pit for fighting as a youth from the projects...is a big moneymaking vibe, albiet one that i abhor.

...you are absolutely right, Irijah. I stand corrected.

Even rich people get involved. Look at that scum, Vick the football player they are probably going to allow back in the game.

He should have been kicked out for life. Was glad to see some, but not enough, jail time.

greetings terry,

so...if you, for example, were a high profile physician, and you lost your license for a time, due to a malpractice suit, when your license is reinstated...that means you have paid your dues and are ready to be employable again...would you not want someone to take a chance and hire you?

Some folks do not believe that an individual who abuses other living beings for fun can ever fully pay his dues, or be rehabilitated.

I believe if a physician looses his license he does not get to practice again; we are seeing that right now with Dr. Williams on STX

Cock fighting is legal in the USVI. We have a large "arena" near us in Mon Bijou.

I don't think the two are the same. One is a mistake, I don't think I would go to a new doctor who had lost a malpractice suit, but would "maybe" go back to a regular doctor who did.
I don't think M. Vick made a mistake when he partook in dog fighting. He knew what he was doing.

Most of our pro sports leagues just look the other way at criminals, drug users, wife beaters, etc - in the name of money.
That is what I like about NASCAR, use drugs and you are OUT. They do give you 1 second chance after a long suspension. Then when remitted, you are constantly tested. Flunk again and out for life!

Good role models for the younger generation, unlike the NFL (National Felon League).
I know that is unfair because there are some who do not use or are not criminals, but to me the many bad apples have spoiled the barrel.

The Eagles signed him.................better watch their mascot!! Wonder if theres a cock fighting ring in Philly......hmmmmmmmm

You lost credibility with me by including the Inspector General. You would be hard pressed to find anyone who has done more to expose corruption from the govenor's office on down as well as affect positive changes in department and agency policies..

Richard N. Kurpiers

The comment is not directed to him personally, however to be in that type of position over 10 years is a joke. In private industry heads of audits or compliance positions are never more than 3 years and the fact that the position gets paid 85% of the governor's bloated salary just magnifies the joke. By the way who audits the IG's office

stcmike, you are being pretty liberal with your thinly veiled intimation that the inspector general is "up to something". i for one believe that you are wrong. i watched that office struggle for years to conduct business, underfunded and having their legs cut out from under them but pressing on. i can understand your skepticism, but you are maligning some hard working people, in a hard working department. until evidence presents itself outside of what i have observed as a longtime resident, i believe that you are dead wrong in this assessment.

INSPECTOR GENERAL MAKES FAMILIAR REQUESTS
http://stthomassource.com/content/news/local-news/2003/07/18/inspector-general-makes-familiar-requests-0

Inspector General Asks Only to Keep What He Has
http://stthomassource.com/content/news/local-news/2004/07/28/inspector-general-asks-only-keep-what-he-has

TESTIMONY FROM V.I. INSPECTOR GENERAL
http://stthomassource.com/content/news/local-government/1999/05/12/testimony-vi-inspector-general

Inspector General Takes Issue with Attorney General
http://stthomassource.com/content/commentary/open-forum/2004/06/01/inspector-general-takes-issue-attorney-general

Inspector General Chafes at Budget Limitations
http://stthomassource.com/content/news/local-news/2007/07/10/inspector-general-chafes-budget-limitations

there is more online in the archives of the St. Thomas Source:
i had to remove the final link as it is complicated and broke, but you may go to http://www.stthomassource.com and type inspector general into the search window at the top on your own.

17 year old kid got shot in the neck today while fighting at the jfk projects

well ok so he was 21,the shooter was 18 and in custody now with a million dollar bail

Hi all im new to the board ,Im moving to STT end of august which Island is this all happening on ?

The Peter DesJardins murder was on STX but STT has crime also.

I got a response from the Governor. Or a staffer....

Dear Jeffrey,

I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your recent correspondence respecting the tragic death of Peter des Jardins, a violent crime that not only took the life of a talented and well-loved resident of our Islands, but a crime that has provoked a truly deserved out-welling of public concern and distress. It is from this concern, and the commitment of so many people both in Government and without to redouble their efforts to build a safer and more lawful community, that I take hope.

Our Police Department has reported solid leads in the investigation of the des Jardins case. We are all committed to the goal of bringing to justice those who took his life. But even as we seek this outcome we must do more. My Administration is committed to fully staffing our Police Department through the hiring of trained police officers from other jurisdictions as we continue to train recruits locally. The new Commissioner of Police is a man who, having come up through the ranks, fully appreciates where improvement is needed in his Department. He has my full backing in making those changes that are needed to restore confidence in our Police Department. However, he will tell you what we all know, and that is that the Police can only succeed in their mission with the full and continuing support of all law-abiding individuals in our community. Attacking the police instead of assisting them in their efforts will not lead us forward. Thus we must turn the sorrow, the anger, and the outrage that we all feel in reaction to this recent tragedy into a united effort to do what we each can to build a safer community where those who would seek to do violence to any of us will be met by the unified opposition of all of us.

I thank you for your recent correspondence and ask you to join in the effort we must all make to build a better and more peaceful Virgin Islands.

Sincerely,
John P. de Jongh, Jr.
Governor

(tu) thanx for sharing chefnoah!

I got the exact same letter. Nice content. I doubt it was from the Governor since they are the same. If it came from a staffer, it should have been signed by the staffer. Kind of ruined the response for me.

You're kidding, right? I'm sure that the Governor was involved in drafting general responses to all the letters he gets, including this one regarding the recent murder, but do you really think any chief executive is going to personally write individual responses to every letter he/she receives? They'd never do anything else but write letters.

And staffers don't sign letters, the governor does.

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I don't know how it works here in the USVI, but my first real job after college graduation was working in correspondence and constituent services for a state governor. I read incoming mail and sorted it into Really Important and worthy of being passed on to higher ups, and not so important. I even listened to recordings containing musical selections and poems. For the not so important mail I crafted responses in the governor's name. At first my superiors reviewed what I wrote. After several weeks I was pretty sure they didn't read what I gave them. Once I received my approved drafts back, I used an autopen that simulated the governor's signature.

I like to think that thanks to me and others like me, many constituents got detailed, warm, well written and responsive missives (I often referred constituents to other departments for assistance) that they otherwise would not have gotten from the "governor."

Best,

Islandlola

A. Davis - you are either paranoid or nieve, I never suggested anybody was doing wrong, I just asked the question who watches the gatekeeper. You only have to open any paper in this country to see numerous examples of abuses of power from people who are supposedly in authority or supposedly watching over those in authority. Just look at our current banking crisis. Don't get "starstruck" by newspaper clippings, everybody is human, everyone puts their pants on one leg at a time.