“Once you see unsuitable occurring, do you simply stand by and say that’s not my enterprise?” The rhetorical query was posed by legendary American comic and actress Mo’Nique throughout a current episode of Shannon Sharpe’s Membership Shay Shay podcast. The video garnered over three million views in lower than 24 hours.
I got here throughout the interview shortly after perusing the most recent information reviews of a number of shootings, a deadly stabbing incident, and a chopping incident at a faculty simply outdoors the town—all having occurred in a single week. Mo’Nique’s phrases resonated with me, bringing to thoughts the truth that the variety of native homicides had steadily been growing during the last couple of years, notably so at the beginning of this 12 months. Just lately, there have been virtually weekly situations of gun violence, most leading to loss of life. In the meantime, the police appear helpless or uninterested. As for the nation’s prime minister, every time he’s talked about in relation to native crime what dominates the dialogue is his well-publicized assertion to information reporters that he had by no means been himself a police officer, and subsequently shouldn’t be confused together with his deceased father who had served a number of years on the Royal St. Lucia Police Drive.
In the midst of the Membership Shay Shay interview, Mo’Nique had reminded the host that when an individual is aware of one thing is unsuitable and takes the place that it’s not their place to talk out in opposition to it, in the end such particular person will succumb to what she or he silently inspired.
Sadly, and for varied causes together with concern of reprisal and a scarcity of public belief within the police, Saint Lucians hold very important data to themselves, even when they’re casualties of felony habits. This week the mom of the island’s ninth murder sufferer, Ryan Henry, informed a reporter she knew little of her son’s non-public actions, solely that he had “all the time been good to me.”
Within the earlier talked about faculty incident that concerned a machete, two college students have been injured and hospitalized. Each are minors. By all an aunt of one of many college students informed reporters, it appeared what involved her most was that no academics had accompanied her relative to the hospital.
As normally occurs following faculty incidents, the Ministry of Training launched an announcement of condemnation, and pledged counselling companies for the affected college students and college employees. Whereas emphasizing security and psychological well-being as priorities, the ministry urged college students to settle their disputes with out violence.
On Wednesday, February 7 two males have been injured in a Bocage taking pictures. Later that day, Donald Joseph, a 24-year-old who is claimed to have been a nationwide bike owner, was fatally stabbed in Dennery. The next day the police introduced {that a} 16-year-old feminine of the identical deal with had been taken into custody. Additionally this week Rick Kisna, a 37-year-old mechanic from La Useful resource, Vieux Fort, described as a “mild soul,” was fatally gunned down in entrance of his residence. The incident is “below police investigation,” as are over sixty comparable incidents that occurred in 2023.
Anthony Popo, the uncle of Barry Augustin, who was shot at Morne Fortune on February 4, shared his frustration with native media. Popo described the incident as “horrifying.” He defined to reporters the way it felt to have found the physique of his 36-year-old nephew who had “by no means finished no person no unsuitable.” Ryan’s bullet-ridden physique had been fished out of a muddy drain.
Social media commentator Irvin Springer, is well-known by the native monetary and leisure neighborhood. In a February 8 Fb publish, Springer shared insights gained from a dialog with a police supply, amongst them that the Prison Investigation Division and the Main Crimes Unit are confronted by main challenges of their efforts at dealing with the escalating variety of murder instances.
As for Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre, in a quick assertion this week he mentioned: “We’ve given the police extra assets than the final authorities gave them. We’ve given them extra impartial operational power, we’ve elevated their numbers, we’re growing their bodily area.” Not for the primary time, the prime minister additionally declared the protection of “residents, inhabitants, and guests a non-negotiable precedence.” He additionally reassured the nation that his authorities and the police stay dedicated to apprehending these answerable for the numerous unresolved homicides
