Let's See IF This Works: Premier calls for crackdown on crime

Hon Mike Adam, Minister of
Community Affairs
and Housing

The recent spike in crime prompted the Premier, the Hon McKeeva Bush, to call for a crime-fighting task force to be implemented immediately following the shooting death Monday night of four-year-old Jeremiah Barnes, killed when two men approached the parked car he sat in with his family at the Hell gas.

“It was a senseless act possibly involving drugs, where an innocent boy was killed”, said the Premier.

The special task force will work with the Commissioner of Police, David Baines to develop strategies to deal with the new wave of offences, and is fully supported by the government and the Governor His Excellency Duncan Taylor, according to the Premier. He also acknowledged that the newly-appointed National Security Council (NSC) will also advise the government on crime and public safety policies.

The government has adopted “a policy of zero tolerance” and supports the purchase and implementation of additional security measures including CCTV, machinery for x-raying containers to identify weapons, more effective coastal patrols, and strengthening of gang legislation.

Some policies would take effect over the long-term, but the task force can be established immediately.

The Hon Mike Adam, Minister of Community Affairs and Housing, said that preventative action among families needs to start with parents being more accountable. In addition, more community youth programmes should be created.

“There are those who need to be rounded up and locked away,” said Mr Adam, “but there are many others who will benefit from social intervention programmes.”

Mr Bush asserted that many perpetrators involved in recent criminal activity are not foreign criminals: “They are Caymanian, and the community must give their full support to the police in order to bring the perpetrators of crime to justice.”

In one recent incident, the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service (RCIPS) reported that a man armed with what appeared to be a firearm entered Mr G’s barber shop on Eastern Avenue on Friday, 12 February, at 7:50 pm, threatening a man in the shop with a gun before running off.

In another incident, Police reported that shots were fired in the area of School Road in George Town on Monday 15 February at about 1:15am, damaging a parked car.

“With help from the public,” said the Premier, “and the time needed to carry out our policies, our efforts will result in less crime, more business and job creation.”

Drug arrests in Sister Islands - Just Weed, no Cocaine

The Royal Cayman Islands Police Service conducted a number of operations in the Sister Islands over the weekend resulting in the arrest of 15 people for drug related offences.

RCIPS said that on Sunday, Cayman Brac members of the Drugs Task Force and other police officers joined forces with the Immigration Department, the Department of Environment and HM Customs and Excise to carry out a number of operations designed to target the use and sale of illegal drugs and to ensure an accurate record is available of temporary workers on the islands assisting with the post Paloma cleanup operation.

The first operation was conducted at the Divi Tiara complex. A number of rooms were searched by officers and two people were arrested. Two men, aged 34 and 31, both residents of George Town, Grand Cayman, were arrested on suspicion of possession of cocaine, possession of ganja and consuming controlled substances.

The two men have been released on police bail pending further investigations. Along with the drug seizures, a number of prohibited weapons were found and seized and in the grounds of the complex a quantity of ganja was found and seized. In addition, a number of Immigration offences were detected during the operation; these will be investigated by the Immigration Department.

A second operation involving the police and HM Customs was carried out at an address in the West End area of Cayman Brac, resulting in the arrest of two more people. A 30-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman, both Cayman Brac residents, were arrested on suspicion of possession of ganja and consumption of a controlled drug. Both have been released on bail pending further investigations.

A third operation was carried out in Little Cayman by police and HM Customs. As a result, a 40-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of theft, possession of ganja and consumption of a controlled drug. The West Bay resident was transported to Grand Cayman for processing.

Additionally, police arrested a sixth suspect Monday at the airport on Cayman Brac. The 28-year-old was held on suspicion of possession of ganja, and released on station bail.

“The Sister Islands should not be seen as a soft or easy target for criminal behaviour,” said Area Commander, Chief Inspector Malcolm Kay. “We will not tolerate crime in either Cayman Brac or Little Cayman and all those involved in illegal activity should be aware of this.

If you come here thinking you can get away with it, think again.”

Mr Kay also said that the involvement of officers from the Drugs Task Force in Grand Cayman should not go unnoticed.

“Even though we are separated by water, we have full access to all available resources in Grand Cayman and work hand in hand on tackling crime and disorder,” he said.