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#TurksandCaicos, September 16, 2022 – A day after two double homicides rocked the nation key members of the National Security Council have announced that they are planning eight ‘immediate actions’ with local and international partners to stifle the upsurge in violent crimes in the TCI.
Governor Nigel Dakin made the announcement in a press conference on September 5; days after four people were gunned down in two double homicides in the fishing village of Five Cays.
Dakin said the eight actions were “to bring in strategic support to our overall enforcement posture.”
The immediate actions announced at the press conference on Monday September 5 are as follows.
Dakin also had a stern warning for criminals and an impassioned one for the loved ones who are witnesses to the criminal acts of their sons and brothers.
“Those who are intimidating a whole community are small in number; they can think no further than their ego, reputation or their wallet. While they seemingly live in the moment—- all that will eventually happen and faster than many can imagine is that they will die at the hands of a rival or be imprisoned. It is not a question of if but when one of these two outcomes occur.” He said.
When the police eventually came he had some advice for the individuals ‘responsible for the mayhem.’
He stressed that the police would be coming for them one way or another and in order to avoid the worst possible outcome they should do this, “If this is you I strongly suggest that when the tactical unit confronts you you immediately lay down with your arms outstretched. Showing beyond any doubt that you are not armed, if a police officer fears for his or another’s life the rules of engagement are very clear and unfortunately very final.”
Despite the warning, to date no arrests have been made in regards to the killings even after several forays into the area and exchanges of gunfire with criminals.
To the families of gunmen Dakin said, “If someone you love risks being on the fringes of this activity, say something very clearly to them, which is ‘If you continue on this road you’re going to be drawn into a world where you either die or go to prison’.
He cautioned them to do the right thing to save the lives of their sons before it was too late.
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#TurksandCaicos, September 16, 2022 – A new unit separate from the day-to-day police force has been created and will soon be active to collect information from witnesses in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
The creation of the unit is in an effort to bridge the gap between the police and the residents amid officials at the highest level admitting the people do not trust the police.
Trevor Botting, Turks and Caicos Islands Police Commissioner made the announcement in a press conference September 5 addressing recent violence in Five Cays
“We’ve now formed a dedicated team of trained officers who work discreetly with people who want to provide information. They are separate from the mainstream force and they deal with your information discreetly and professionally.”
Botting and Premier Washington Misick both admitted during that press conference that there was a serious breakdown of trust in the island’s police force.
Neither official speculated on the reason behind this breakdown. But in a concerning twist, dozens of residents during the live accused the Police Force of having serious confidentialities issues. Some of them gave outright examples of witnesses whose information had been leaked putting them in danger.
Despite this, Botting said the team has been extremely carefully selected.
“We’ve made this change and invested in making this change as we know how difficult it is in a small community and a community which is in fear, to provide information.”
Botting admitted that police officers in the past had spoken inappropriately regarding witnesses but said.
“This is why we have invested so heavily in a small heavily vetted unit— they are extraordinarily well trained and extraordinarily well selected and their whole purpose is to deal with this kind of information. They are separate from the Force, effectively, they won’t be on the streets.”
The commissioner said the team was so confidential they would be reporting directly to him and not even he would be aware of who the witnesses were. He stressed that the team was trustworthy, describing them as “unmatched” in policing.
Residents were not totally convinced, in addition to leaks in the force the Islands’ low conviction rate was also a bone of contention addressed both by the commissioner and by viewers.
When queried about the low conviction rate the Commissioner referenced residents’ reluctance to speak to the force as a major problem. He stressed that while he understood that people were afraid challenges in the investigative process hampered convictions.
“I am going to be blunt here. You can’t just look at the police to solve all the crimes. If you look elsewhere around the world where they have good conviction rates it’s the cooperation of the community that starts to make a difference” he said.
In 2022 alone there have been multiple failures to secure convictions based on missteps from all sides of the justice system. The consistent failures have cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars and put suspected molesters and murderers back on the street.
The Police Commissioner has promised that in the near future, a number will be circulated that will put witnesses in direct contact with the new team.
#TurksandCaicos, September 16, 2022 – On Monday September 5, we asked the question which put the Turks and Caicos Islands Premier, Hon Washington Misick in a position to tell the nation precisely what he thought of Commissioner of Police, Trevor Botting who in recent months had his tenure as top cop extended.
The Premier defended Botting citing that he was anything but unsatisfied with Botting’s performance on the job and not prone to emotional swings on the issue of the commissioner’s competency.
“For the same reason that every time a gang member gets killed the police is blamed, that’s the kind of gut reaction, emotion, and [that’s] the reason why people are saying the commissioner has to go. They said that with the last commissioner, they’ve probably been saying it with the one before that.” The premier said.
He was speaking at a recent press conference to discuss the violence in Five Cays that left four people dead.
Misick said that in his position he could not afford to be so hasty and indicated that he would not be commenting on whether the commissioner would stay or go.
“I have to be very analytical I cannot knee jerk or react from emotion— The prevention and detection of crime is up to the whole community” he said
The premier stressed that as a society we have to face the mirror and deal with our own issues. He questioned what was wrong with the Turks and Caicos as a collective society that allowed certain things to happen.
The Premier said that regardless of talk as far as he knew Botting was doing good work.
“It’s not up to me to retain or not retain the commissioner but I personally In my dealings with the commissioner, I have no reason to believe that he is not doing his best working hard to build up the police force and to detect crime.”
#TurksandCaicos, September 16, 2022 – There have been no arrests reported by the Royal TCI Police in the Five Cays area; two weeks after the country’s bloodiest weekend this year. This reality is despite promises that they had a ‘list’ and would be ‘coming for’ the individuals responsible for an outrageous flare-up of violence on September 3 and 4 which claimed four lives.
Governor and co-chair of the National Security Council (NSC), His Excellency Nigel Dakin, in a press conference held after the murders, had promised the people of Five Cays that arrests would be made to reassure the country.
“Over the coming days, they will be making arrests against a list of individuals that we believe are responsible for this mayhem,” he said.
Police Commissioner Trevor Botting had added, “I know that the Five Cays community is fearful but I want to assure you that we are doing all we can to take these criminals off of the streets of the Turks and Caicos Islands.”
The press conference was held on Monday September 5, which was two days after the initial killings. It’s not clear why there was such a large length of time between the crime occurring and the Police going in to make those arrests, but it has drawn fierce criticism.
And despite admitting that these attacks were targeted and they believed they knew who was carrying them out, Police have not been able to apprehend anyone responsible for the shootings. In fact, another two men have been gunned down in the weeks since.
Two young men were killed on Saturday, September 3, and a young woman and an elderly man were shot in a Five Cays home on Sunday, September 4th in what Dakin confirmed was very likely retaliation for the death of the two men. Five days (September 8) later, a 27-year old young man was killed execution-style in a parking lot a stone’s throw away from a primary school.
The same style murder marred Wednesday September 14, when residents called in a man with two shots to the head in a gruesome discovery on Millennium Highway, also in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands.
No one has yet been held responsible for any of the six slayings.
No wanted posters have been issued and police have not commented on the reasoning behind the arrests failing to materialize.
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