Mapp Ready To Initiate ‘Limited Deployment’ Of National Guard To Fight Crime

In an effort to fight the escalating gun violence in the territory, Governor Kenneth Mapp at a press conference Thursday on St. Croix said his administration is ready to authorize a “limited deployment of military police” to aid the VIPD in patrolling high-crime areas.

The governor made known his intentions following Commissioner-designee Delroy Richards’ statement of how the VIPD intends to fight crime in the territory. Mapp said his administration will “push back in a significant way” against the violence.

“[Along] with what Commissioner Richards said, there are some other things you should know,” Mapp began. “I’ve been speaking with the commissioner today, [and] I’ve also advised him, based on his call, we are prepared to do a limited deployment of police from the Virgin Islands National Guard to augment VIPD in some of these initiatives targeting violence, targeting the guns in the communities where these shootings occur.”

He continued, “We are going to push back and we are going to push back in a very significant way. And so, as the commissioner continues to build his partnerships with the federal government, he will let me know when he’s ready and needing those resources, and upon his request, I will sign the order, giving him access to a limited deployment of military police from the Virgin Islands National Guard.”

“Obviously, we know we have to pay that bill, but we’ll have to pay it from our resources from which we pay overtime police officers,” Mapp said.

The governor further revealed he is seeking to have all gun violence in the territory prosecuted on a federal level.

“I have asked the Attorney General, and I am scheduled to speak shortly with the U.S. Attorney, to make a decision, through a memorandum of understand, that all gun crime in the territory will be prosecuted at the federal level,” Mapp said, adding “We want to send a very strong message that if you are arrested for a gun crime in the Virgin Islands, you’re not going to do happy time at the Golden Grove Correctional Facility, and if you’re convicted, you’re going to be sent off to a federal institution somewhere on the mainland, as a federally convicted individual.”

For 2015, the VIPD has reported eight gun-related homicides — six on St. Thomas and two on St. Croix.