The signs are there staring the Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF) straight in the face –the criminal elements who are just a tiny few in the country are causing distress and anxious moments in the country.
THE NEW TODAY has done more than its fair share to alert the men and women in uniform that if action is not taken quickly by law enforcement that there could be a breakout of gang warfare between the Carenage/4-Roads alliance and certain elements in the Saigon area near to the Sugar Mill Round-a-bout.
Within one week of the publishing of the article, the residents in and around H.A Blaize Street near to the Carenage reported that on Tuesday night around 11.30 p.m. several heavy gunshots were heard from what appeared to be powerful guns.
One person reported hearing 8 gunshots ringing out and another said he heard about four and suspected that one shell even fell on top of his house.
The resident was very terrified and afraid to even peep through the curtains on the window to see what was happening outside.
The information in our possession that the Carenage/4-Roads Alliance was testing a piece of heavy artillery that came in to beef up their arsenal in the face of an expected attack from a major figure in Saigon and his Gang.
It was also clearly intended to send a message that they mean business and was serious in defending themselves against an expected attack.
It should be noted that the gun shots were fired even though Central Police Station is located less than 800 yards up the road.
What is disconcerting is that RGPF seems to be clueless and leaderless in seriously reacting to the recent upsurge in the indiscriminate firing off illegal guns in the hands of what appears to be young persons looking for fame and glory.
It is very unlikely that the Police Force of old would not have responded quickly and more than appropriately to the well-known areas where the gun violence is taking place.
The likes of James Clarkson and Fitzroy Bedeau and even Colonel Nestor Ogilvie would have sent in forces in numbers to find the guns and ammunition and other illegal stuff in these so-called hotbed areas.
The Prime Minister and Minister of National Security, Dickon Mitchell is new to the business and is lacking experience as he is specialised in civil law and not criminal law like the veteran Anslem Clouden and is not in a position to gather information from criminal elements about certain happenings in the society.
The Prime Minister has to be very careful that the lack of a reaction from the Police Force in the current situation is not part and parcel of an attempt to destabilise his new government as one that is clueless in fighting crime.
The agents of the former New National Party (NNP) government of the defeated Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell are still holding onto several important and critical positions in the security apparatus.
It also begs the question – what advice is the National Security Advisor giving to the Prime Minister in terms of addressing and containing at this early stage of the game the activities of those in the minority who are seemingly trigger happy.
This question is also relevant and appropriate – does the RGPF have a plan to deal and arrest the situation and get these warring factions to desist from activities that will only help to destabilise the country and its tourism industry.
The current situation has to be addressed as a matter of urgency and the ball is now in the court of Acting Commissioner of Police Don McKenzie to react swiftly as the evidence is glaring as plain as daylight – within the past week, one figure from 4-Roads was brought to court for a shooting in the south.
If the police do not act quickly there will be more shootings as these crazy youngsters with guns in their hands have a different mindset from “The Dons” of yesteryear who will step in from time to time and control the situation as the gun violence serves only one purpose – to hurt their business and trade because the police will start looking in their direction.
THE NEW TODAY will also like to make some passing comments about the recent incident in which the daughter of an NNP operative filed a complaint with the police about an alleged sexual approach to her by a high profile individual who is also linked to the same party that is now in opposition.
This incident will attract attention not only in Grenada but most likely in the United States given the fact that the individual is linked to a major educational institution up there.
The Grenada judiciary was left embarrassed several months ago when an individual who was born in the homeland but migrated to the U.S and obtained legal status was given a light sentence for a sexual act of a male boy.
The individual got off lightly in Grenada but the case was picked up by the authorities in the United States and the person is now serving a 30-year jail sentence.
The U.S Justice sentence has a much different mindset to crimes of a sexual nature against women and minors.
It will not surprise us if this incident might not attract the relevant authorities in the United States who might look at the case since it involves a significant person who interacts with their male and female students.
There is a mutual exchange treaty existing between St George’s and Washington and Grenadian authorities, if called upon, will have to give full disclosure to U.S investigators since the person of interest resides in their country.