MUST READ article - living here has become even more dangerous

So why not make these new housing places "GUN FREE ZONES"

How? If that would work, why not simply make the existing housing areas "gun free zones"? What would be functionally different about the new housing that would ensure success of enforcing a gun-free (drug-free, etc) status? Seems like you still have to depend on family/neighbors to disclose the offenders. That doesn't seem to happen in this culture.

I do think that Linda's plan per her last paragraph sounds promising, though, depending on who would administer the whole concept.

In my mind eradicating guns from where they are accepted and freely shown/used is different from starting fresh - this is the way it is - any first sign of it - you are out. And that's why I believe there has to be an active manager who interacts and knows what's going on. Does Mary is 301B have her boyfriend over for nights on end when she only has down herself and 1 kid? Make it known - if you have someone in your home with an unlicensed gun - you are out - and possibly charges filed.. After it happens to a few people do you think people might take notice? That might clean up puplic housing a bit, but unless you have systems in place to support those people in change all you are doing is moving the problem somewhere else. There has to be work done on a lot of levels for it to really work. IMO

When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.

In most cases it is illegal to have guns in the USVI. Do you really think that telling them they would have to move would make a difference? I don't think so.

The best solution is what Willy says in the song " Beer for my horses" - "when the long arm of the law puts a few more in the ground"

The more I think about it, the Michigan Troopers would make a big difference in how the "LAW" should be applied. They "the troopers" would work directly for the Gov of the islands. Imagine 100 Law enforcement Officers with no relatives-friends-politicos to appease. Most States have State Police/County/Sheriff/Local law enforcement all working in concert to get the bad guys. If the VIPD wants to create a turf war "to bad" it's not their Turf. This would not be Martial Law but Law enforcement with no strings attached. If anyone has a better idea I'm all ears.

"Apparently there was a letter written to the Gov about the mistake he was making in nominating Francis for Commissioner...Does anyone want to read that letter?"

I'd like to read that letter. There is a lack of transparency in our government, and I suspect that letter will be illuminating. Maybe you can post it in this thread?

Who says Feds and VIPD aren't friends...

Just saw a news story about FBI and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), with the assistance from the VIPD, serving a bunch of warrants yesterday (7/15).

Don't know exactly what they were looking for but great to hear that they are teaming up!!!

I was friends with an ATF agent who left. He didn't talk about it much, but I think the government felt the agents and their families were unsafe here - or more unsafe than usual 🙁 - due to possible retribution for the shooting. Would you move your wife and kids into a target zone? I know these law enforcement officers are much braver than me, but there is a point when the risk becomes too much.

Would an invitation plea to "60 Minutes (CBS) " to come and do an expose' TV program, on all the aspects of crime, housing, corruption in the perception/reality of residents, and Federal working relations with the government, embarrass the responsible parties to either be charged with breaking laws or resign under public outcry/demonstrations? Select "contact" at the site page bottom-if everyone sends an email asking this to be done for the basic same reasons, they will respond! http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/60minutes/main3415.shtml

Enough talk and finger pointing, it is time to act, and request an objective view in order to "force" resolutions of long standing issues. Tell all your friends that want LAW & Order, and a decent life in USVI, to implore CBS 60 Minutes to please come and investigate all the issues.
People want a safe and decent place for everyone that is a not a thug or corrupt and uncaring. If that is the majority, let us find out!

Take time and write!!

Careful what you wish for. A 60 Minute -style piece could decimate tourism and devastate the islands.

Careful what you wish for. A 60 Minute -style piece could decimate tourism and devastate the islands.

Better to remain hostage?

"For evil to triumph it is enough only that good men do nothing"

U.S. Department of the Interior • Office of Insular Affairs
1849 C Street, N.W. • Washington, DC 20240
Phone: (202) 208-6816 • FAX: (202) 219-1989
http://www.doi.gov/oia/

I think many in the VIPD, the Senate, and elsewhere are acting like little, petulant children. The Federal Consent Decree is Daddy telling the kids to grow up and act like responsible citizens. He is also warning them that they only have a short period of time to do it. Failure to get responsible is going to have serious repercussions and we won't like it. If Daddy gets mad enough he very well may come here with troops and clean out the guns from the projects. He will disband the senate, clean out the VIPD and won't take "no" for an answer. However much some of us would like to be independent, we are not close to ready to live on our own. Until we can show that we can be a responsible member of the world community, we have no business trying to make a "constitution" or arresting ATF officers protecting the lives of others. It's time we ate some humble pie and started asking for help to train us up so that we can become mature citizens. We had better ask the "outsiders" to come and help, or we are lost.

It's a pickle we are in...

If we bring in the Feds, and if VIPD knew they were coming, what level of retaliation would the agents succumb to?

Then, if we leave things status quo, how many more unsolved crimes on residents and tourists would pile up?

If the heads of VIPD can not fully grasp what it means to be under a Federal Consent Decree, and continue on they way it's always been done, then we will in fact go under the Department of Justice for public safety. Personally, I say bring the Feds in now. Otherwise we will have for more years of the way things are now, which to me means four more years of VIPD doing as they please.

Don't get me wrong, I do not think that the majority of police in our territory are corrupt. But the few that are seem to have more control and prevent the good from succeeding. I'd be willing to bet that the majority of the good would have no problem utilizing Federal Assistance.

The "low down" I believe in regards to the Feds operating here in the territory is this:

VIPD does not honor a POS ( Peace Officer Status) with Federal Agents working in a local capacity. The Feds that are here are working on Federal Cases, and will no longer work in a way that puts themselves in a predicament that the agent on STT is in. The STT agent is being tried as a civilian in local court because of the lack of POS. I interpret this as a direct VIPD voice stating that they don't and won't allow Feds in a local jurisdiction. This has got to be fixed.

Careful what you wish for. A 60 Minute -style piece could decimate tourism and devastate the islands.

I am up in the states right now and just had a Doctor ask me about the high crime in the islands. He has been researching places to visit and is worried about the crime rates he has read about. I think a 60 minutes type report would be very detrimental to tourism.

Trade has the best idea - write to the Dept of the Interior - if enough of us do it they can't ignore it!

There is a cluster of subsidized housing near me that it clean, nice, new, well-maintained, and quiet. Doesn't appear to be a hotbed of crime.

If you are referring to the units above the dairy, yes they are subsidized, but they are owner occupied, unlike government owned housing. When people have a financial stake in their housing, they tend to be better stewards of their living environment. Government owned housing is clearly a "hotbed of crime," but most of the people in government housing are unwilling or unable to invest in a residence.

For all you know-it-alls:
At one point in this territory, all crimes were tried in District (Federal) Court. The judicial branch at district court was getting overwhelmed and decided to pass on the burden to the local judicial branch, so they could focus solely on federal crimes. All crimes committed in the VI are federal crimes due to the interstate commerce nexus that attaches to the VI.

The majority of Federal agents here (FBI, ATF, DEA, ICE) , all have an officer liaison from the VIPD attached to them because they don't know the territory. If you are a victim of a crime and a federal agent sees it, the agent will not act because it's not within their jurisdiction. The ATF agent was charged in local court because he was not acting in his capacity as a law enforcement officer. And the facts are for the jury, I wasn't there, but it is stated that he shot someone through his car door for brandishing a flashlight. This is not deadly force against deadly force. When it comes to case management in the Virgin Islands, the only thing the feds want is a slam-dunk, open/shut case, a headliner (like busting local police), something that deals with forfeiture of a large amount of money, or they don't want it.

For those who have been here on this island long enough (STX) there was a gang known as "The Commission" and every piece of info gathered on them by VIPD was turned over to the FBI (there are agents on-island) , as with recent info on homicides, murder for hire, bank robberies, dog fighting....and what has come out of it???? Nothing. All the agents transferred off-island, were replaced, and no one has picked up on those cases. They are busy spending their time at the marina or the local pubs. Believe it or not, being a fed agent and being sent to this territory is mainly a punishment because they are not competent to be in a major city working major cases. So if you are looking for a shining knight with the feds, you are going to sit there and wait, because the feds aren't going to deal with it.

By the way, the recent FBI "bust" were search warrants for a bunch of illegally copied bootleg DVDs, which took about a year for them to get their game plan about. And there are no arrests at this point, just seizures. And this can't go local because there is no local law about it. The seizures were made because the VIPD constantly harassed the US Atty's office over seeing these guys out there selling the bootlegs, and hearing local complaints, and there was no local law they could arrest them under. And do you think the US Attys want all the extra cases? Right now, for every 100 cases the US Atty does on a yearly basis, the AGs office handles about 10 times the amount. They could EASILY pick up at least the gun crimes, but they don't.

Oh my gosh, that gave me a good laugh sharkie,

1. All crimes are not federal, that's just totally wrong.
2. Some FED offices do have a vipd officer but it's not because the agents don't know the territory (there are many feds here from the islands) its for several reasons, one of them being trying to work together, easier to obtain certain records, etc.
3. Officers whether they be pd or feds are ALWAYS taught to use greater force. If someone pulls any type of deadly weapon, you pull your gun, not saying they are taught to automatically shoot. But you are trained to respond with greater force.
4. We have little details of the case I'm not going to speculate, but I stand by what I said earlier, it had to be VERY BAD for a whole federal dept to pull out. Seriously Bad. And I don't mean the agent, he would have just been fired and left to defend himself.
5. It's not a punishment to be sent here. LOL, where do you get your information? Its highly desirable because of the greater pay. Although sometimes living here with people like you feels like one.
6. It was a FBI bust? lol...read the article again, it was ICE, FBI and assistance from VIPD. Feds don't just go after the little guys, they want to investigate until they can bring the big dog down. And you really think the feds feel pressure from the VIPD??? This is the kind of thing that just builds bad relations.
7. The vipd could have arrested the guys ANYTIME. They had an illegal business selling illegal items. They just couldn't prosecute on the federal crimes.

I tend to agree with Betty, but I think number 5 is a bit off.
The FBI agents are not sent here, they request to come here. Yes they do get extra pay for several years ( I think 6 ) then that reverts back to regular pay. They get moving benefits and when they move if they can't sell their houses, the Federal Government will buy them at what the governments Realtor says is fair. ( Why do you have to capitalize Realtor for spell check to accept it? It's not like they are a Dr. LOL )
I think that the time here does not go to credit their pension.
It is harder to get FBI agents to come here if they have small children.

All crimes committed in the VI are federal crimes due to the interstate commerce nexus that attaches to the VI. So if I steal a loaf of bread, it's a federal crime?

If you are a victim of a crime and a federal agent sees it, the agent will not act because it's not within their jurisdiction. Any Federal Agent can make a warrant less arrest for any crime committed in their presence, regardless of their jurisdiction.

Believe it or not, being a fed agent and being sent to this territory is mainly a punishment because they are not competent to be in a major city working major cases. Read the papers. In the past couple of months alone, collectors of child pornography, perps travelling interstate for sex with a minor, etc. have been arrested.

The seizures were made because the VIPD constantly harassed the US Atty's office... The VIPD has no say what the US Attorney's Office does and does not prosecute.

I know betty is right on with #5. I have friends who are feds and they go by a pay scale that does NOT fluctuate. Whether they are on island for 1, 6 or 20 years their pay scale remains the same. Each year they either get a grade or step increase. I know one or two who make over 100K. I know those guys don't wanna go anywhere.

Terry my husband is an agent. Pay stays great it doesn't go away. Some get paid moves some do not. All depends on the job opening you accept and get hired for. Time here absolutely goes to their penson. Most people get paid a lot more to come out here then most everywhere in the US.

Why would they have a hard time bringing their kids? Other then the problem everyone has with the high price of private school. If you get a paid move you get paid extra for the move for your spouse and kids.

Govt will not buy at what realtors says but requires 3 real appraisers to give their value and then they take the average. All the realtor does is get an easy commission.

I am not familiar with the law, but it seems to me that a federal agent is a federal agent 24 hours a day, just like a policeperson is a policeperson 24 hours a day, no? :S

For those that are interested. The Consent Decree is linked on the VIPD.com website.
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/split/documents/VIPD_CD_03-23-09.pdf

I will be the first to say that the VIPD is in need of improvement. They ASKED for the feds to evaluate their procedures in the first place, and agreed to, and didn't fight, the consent decree. Now, this is in stark contrast to those on this board who want to post and run their mouths about how great the feds are, and how without fault they are. That being said, certain members (Betty) like to make personal attacks on people, which is a serious character flaw--just based upon your responses on this board.

I am not here to just shoot my mouth off. Take into consideration there are people in the mix and more in the know on certain topics, and when they say something, they may know more than you about it, and don't need to be jumped all over.

With respect to the feds being feds 24/7 -not true, if you mean they can make arrests all the time here, for everything. Also, read the Daily News headliner today ( Case Leads to ATF Pullout from VI...!!!) In the article a letter that US Atty Murphy wrote to AG Frazier is mentioned in which Murphy points to the VIPD's handling of the ATF agent's fatal shooting of Sukow in September as PROMPTING the agency's pullout. Is this petty, yes! Does it seem that an entire agency pulled out over one incident...yes. They cited it could happen to any other of their agents, and their special investigative group that was flown in was "treated rudely" by police. It was a local case, so the federal "insiders" investigative team was not allowed in, to keep it neutral. Sounds like a federal hissy fit.

Also, when I said "FBI bust" it WAS an FBI "bust" with the bootleg DVDs, because the FBI spearheaded it, with VIPD and maybe a few other agency people there for manpower. That equals FBI bust, and I don't know what the big deal is, except for you mentioning you're married to an agent, Betty.

With respect to interstate commerce federal nexus charges, my point was that anything brought into the VI (as in shipped) could trigger federal jurisdiction. Now, honestly, is there going to be a federal case made about stealing some shipped-inbread...no....but hopefully one with a shipped-in gun. That's a prime example (Uttica) of how petty people on this board are with the crappy little points they try and make.

Okay, so maybe it's not "punishment" for an agent to come here from stateside, but in my experience, they are substandard, and don't cut it in major offices stateside. The ones that do stay here longer than a year live the "island life" --to put i nicely, meaning, they can be seen boozing it up, are lazy, and take this territory job as a way out/easy way. Maybe that's why the lateral transfer stateside officers left, because they thought it would be some island piece of cake with the extra money they were making. They actually had to go out there and work!

The easy answer for a lot of you is to bash the police and wait for a federal presence. Do you think if/when the feds come here in force, when you call 911, they will be the ones responding? Doubt it.

The porn case someone mentioned was initiated by the VIPD. The VIPD does the majority of investigations for the cases the US Atty's Office ultimately take right off the bat, or takes over after the AG's office starts it in local court. People don't get it that a lot of times the VIPD are the only officers to investigate and then be witnesses in federal cases taken by the US Atty's Office. It's not all a federal officer show over there, which is a point I don't think people know. So the US Atty's Office, who works with VIPD officers all the time, will listen and does listen to what the VIPD has to say. They still are their own agency, but one would hope they would want to have a pulse on the community, and that comes more from the local officers that the feds, the MAJORITY of which are stateside transplants.

We talk alot about what should be done, but today I took action. I think if more people did what they spoke of we might be in a better place. I am far from eloquent but I took action. Perhaps nothing will come of it - but surely nothing would have had I not taken any action at all.

Letter to Commissioner Francis:
Congratulations on your appointment sir.

In reading many news articles recently it has been made clear that the VIPD is actively attempting to hire upwards to 100 officers. Having come to the VI from Michigan I keep up on news from my old home state. Recently, Michigan has laid off over 100 Michigan State Troopers due to budget constraints.

Here we have over 100 highly trained state troopers unable to perform the work they have trained for and set their goals on, unable to support themselves and their families due to the unfortunate circumstances of our current economy. And we in the USVI have a great need of just those same people. I believe it would be worth your while to contact the Michigan State Police Troopers Association as a recruitment option.

Michael Moorman is the President of the MSPTA. His email address is mmoorman@mspta.net. Contact information for their offices is:
1715 Abbey Road
Suite B
East Lansing, MI 48823
Tel: 517.336.7782
Fax: 517.336.8997

My father is a retired Deputy Sheriff having served over 35 years. My commitment to Law Enforcement is strong and it is my desire to see those that are dedicated to serve be allowed to do so.

We are in desperate need in the USVI. They have highly trained officers that are unemployed due to no fault of their own. It would seem negligent to the citizens of the VI to not make a strong recruitment endeavor.

I look forward to reading in the near future that we are bringing on newly recruited officers to protect and serve the citizens of the USVI.

Sincerely,

Linda Adler
Citizen
President, USVI Norml

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Letter to Michigan State Police Trooper Association President:
Good day, sir,
I am a former Michigan resident residing in the US Virgin Islands. It has dawned on me recently that there is a need both in Michigan and the USVI that can be met easily by connecting your two agencies. I don't believe either knew of the other's need.

Michigan laid of 100 of its state troopers at the end of June. This is very sad indeed for the residents of Michigan. My father is retired law enforcement so I have deep ties to the community of law enforcement in addition to maintaining a home there.

The US Virgin Islands, my current home, is in desperate need of hiring 182 positions ranging from rank and file officers to civilian personnel.

Mr. Novelle Francis Jr. is the US Virgin Islands Police Commissioner. I have written to him and have forwarded the email to you for reference.

I strongly believe that while it would be best if Michigan were able to bring these 100 troopers back to work, in lieu of that happening, it would be a service to both the laid-off troopers (and their families) and the citizens of the USVI for yourself and Commissioner Francis to discuss filling this desperate need on both sides.

He may be reached by email at Police.Commissioner@vipd.gov.vi. The telephone number for his office on St. Thomas is 340-715-5500, his office on St. Croix is 340-712-6001.

The recruitment page for the VIPD may be found at http://www.vipd.gov.vi/work_with_us/work_with_us.aspx

I hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,

Linda S. Adler