VIPD/NYPD Partnership Details Released, Mapp Considers Creation Of Forensic Lab In Territory

ST. THOMAS — Governor Kenneth Mapp said on Tuesday that during his whirlwind trips from Puerto Rico to Washington, D.C. and then to New York, he met with the New York Police Department’s Commissioner William Bratton, where the two men discussed how a partnership could benefit the Virgin Islands Police Department in its efforts to better fight crime.

During the meeting, which also included Police Commissioner Delroy Richards along with Acting Attorney General Judge James S. Carroll, the territory’s leader said Bratton’s willingness to help was apparent, and he asked the governor to put in writing all the requests as they move to formalize the relationship and get the process started in earnest.

The governor said three important actions were identified during the meeting that will see immediate attention:

1. Officers in the Virgin Islands with less than 7 yrs of service will spend six months to train with recruits at the New York City Police Academy.
2. Investigators within the territory’s criminal investigation divisions will be sent off to investigating schools in New York to learn the entire process of investigating crimes, handling of forensic evidence and the analysis of dealing with criminal scenes.
3. The establishment of a complete infusion of technology in law enforcement in the islands.

Mapp said the team was able to visit the facial identification section at the NYPD and understand how the police department, the governor and the city of New York make good use of cameras installed citywide by partnering with the private sector after entering into memorandums of understanding, so that the force can use the cameras for patrolling and deterrence purposes.

According to the governor, the aforementioned technology is already in the territory, including the ability for police to identify when shots are discharged and to have an immediate response even before officers arrive at the scene. But the technology has yet to be fully deployed.

NYPD’s Real Time Crime Center.

The Real Time Crime Center at the NYPD, Mapp went on, “clearly shows how access and connectivity to 911 and all of the voice discussions and reporting of crime are made available to officers even before they arrive at a crime scene.

“When officers are headed to homes and businesses, they’re given a full report of the criminal activity at that location in the previous years — were there shootings, domestic violence, were there arrest warrants for persons in that home — before the officers enter — so that they are properly prepared, and also these issues deal with how New York City has been able to suppress criminal incidents,” Mapp explained.

The governor had previously spoken in length about his plans for the force, and mentioned that the firm contracted to carry out an assessment of the VIPD is nearing the completion of its work with results that, according to the governor, “is not going to be all good news.”

“In point of fact, it’s going to be some very bad news,” Mapp made known. “But at the end of the day, the important thing is to understand what our weaknesses are, what we need to do to address them, and that we can turn our efforts around and provide a safer Virgin Islands community for our residents and ensure that people can go about their business in this community, do their work, support and care for their families, visit our territory and have a high modicum of safety and security in the Virgin Islands.”

Mapp said he, along with Lieutenant Governor Osbert Potter, are committed to supporting law enforcement officers in the territory and to ensure that they have the adequate training and resources. It’s also the governor’s belief that most officers are “truly committed to their jobs.”

The governor went on, making known that it’s of utmost importance to his administration that the force has its own forensic lab in the territory. He said during his days at the Public Finance Authority, three to four millions dollars were set aside for that very purpose, and that the Department of Justice had rented a facility on St. Croix to house the lab.

It never got off the ground, however, and Mapp is hoping to revive the project.

“So part of this entire process is to get to that point because I know that we’re still reliant, in this day and age, on analysis of forensic specimens of crime scenes on the FBI labs. And given 9/11, you must understand and appreciate the lack of priority that our evidence is receiving when it ends up at the FBI labs and what delay it causes in closing out and solving criminal activity or cases in the territory.

“So we’re going to move in a very strident way to get to the point where we can setup our own forensic lab in the territory,” the governor said.