Dear Source,
Are we in America? No, and the police of the Virgin Islands want us all to know it, too, don't they?!
I really hope that the officer who was recently involved in the altercation in front of Hard Rock Cafe uses all his anger and frustration and takes it out on the person who is going around shooting people on St. Thomas. Seems like the police take out their frustrations on normal citizens just because they can. They don't want to bother with the real criminals because they are afraid of them. Just like the schoolyard bully who terrorizes the smaller children but not the ones his own size.
I think it is really scary to live in the V.I. when this sort of thing goes on. Where are the people's morals? Where is the people's pride? How can the police treat unarmed citizens like this? What sorts of people are working as police in the V.I.? Who is in charge of these people?
What is the person in charge doing about this sorry situation? Anything? I haven't heard anything from them.
My advice to the citizens treated to the officer's abuse is to sue the officers and the police department. Everyone must be accountable for their actions including the people in charge.
And the officer who grabbed a woman by her breast on St. John and used it to slam her up against her car several times: What kind of monsters are in the police force? How can that officer remain in uniform? He should be immediately fired with a bad reference for any future work, not to mention brought up on charges for assault. This is an unstable person not suited for the office he holds!
Whether or not this is America, the V.I. should do the right thing. Keep the V.I. a civilized and free U.S. territory. Or maybe we can just forget about this democracy thing and individual rights, and start thinking police state and military rule.
How is this situation different from how the Nazis started out? Maybe all of us Non-Native Virgin Islanders can start wearing Stars to identify ourselves in public so the police know exactly which ones of us it is okay to beat.
And why is it that reporters don't follow up on these stories? Why aren't they calling the supervisors of these abusive policemen and asking them what they are going to do about it?
If the supervisors refuse to act, how about the governor: What is he going to do about police abusing the citizens, and how about the FBI? I mean whoever… You can't just let these stories die. You've got to try and get answers and make people realize how nothing is being done about things like this.
Cindy Larason
St. Thomas