Update 1: Former police chief William Harvey, who was set to appear on the Virgin Islands Political Consortium at 7:00 p.m. tonight, canceled the meet minutes before going live. Seen video below.
Original Story: William Harvey, the former VIPD police chief for the St. Croix District who was removed on Monday following a press conference the police force held to provide details on a successful operation that yield 9 arrests, five firearms and a ballistic vest, will be interviewed on the Virgin Islands Political Consortium at 7:00 p.m. by Consortium Publisher and VIPC host Ernice Gilbert.
Mr. Harvey’s swift removal from his position by Police Commissioner Trevor Velinor and his replacement with Herman Lynch came as a surprise to the community.
On February 19, Governor Albert Bryan announced Mr. Harvey as his pick for St. Croix chief of police. The announcement came months ahead of the announcement of Mr. Velinor as police commissioner. At the time, Government House described Mr. Harvey as “a highly-respected Virgin Islands police lieutenant,” who “served 23 years with the V.I.P.D. as a patrol sergeant, Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Drug Task Force supervisor, and training supervisor.” He also served as a zone commander, traffic commander and territorial training director while with the department.
“The community has high expectations for our Virgin Islands Police Department and our administration, and I believe the VIPD will continue improving on its operational success with Chief Harvey again in the ranks,” the governor said in a release announcing Mr. Harvey as chief. “He brings the required vigor to the post, as well as a wealth of institutional knowledge. He knows the community and his military operational background and his extensive police training and drug interdiction experience makes him the right person to lead operations in St. Croix. Chief Harvey will play an integral role in our administration’s law enforcement strategy.”
During a June interview with the Consortium on the grounds of Government House, Mr. Bryan said he did not believe the announcement of a chief of police before a commissioner of police would hurt the police force. He also praised Mr. Harvey.
“I’ve always been a big fan of Chief Harvey and a lot of my executive security have a lot of respect for him. He trained a lot of police officers, and I knew he moved to Texas but I never thought that he would move back. Senator [Kenneth] Gittens told me that he might be interested, I gave him a call and he said he’s willing to come down. He really wanted to be the chief so I was like, great, I made that move,” Mr. Bryan said.
The interview will be carried live on our website and Facebook platform.
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