Anguilla’s National Security Council is scheduled to meet this week, according to the Governor’s Office.
A spokesperson told Anguilla Focus on Tuesday, 16 July, that the committee, made up of Governor Julia Crouch and government ministers, will be convening soon.
However, when asked for the exact date, they said they were unable to provide further details.
The National Security Council considers at a strategic level any issue that presents a security risk to the infrastructure or social structure of the territory – including organised crime.
The meeting comes following a surge in gun-related crime in Anguilla, with three men losing their lives in three separate shooting incidents in just over a week this July.
During a government press conference on Monday, 15 July, Acting Commissioner of Police Haslyn Patterson said many of the shootings are likely to be gang related.
“Most of them are in retaliation to one shooting happening, resulting in the other,” he told attendees, adding that it is “difficult to say” at this point if drugs are involved.
‘Not as frequent’
In an earlier government press conference on 1 July, Premier Ellis Webster said when former governor Dileeni Daniel-Selvaratnam formed the National Security Council, it met every month.
“With Governor Julia Crouch, we have meetings – not as frequent – she has been away,” he said, but added there are other meetings on crime held in between and the police chief gives updates.
“In my weekly meetings with her excellency, the governor, we discuss the gun crime, the violence, the UK armed officers who are here, the extensions of same,” he told those gathered.
The Criminal Justice Board – an entity made up of senior government officials focused on coordinating and improving Anguilla’s criminal justice system – met on Monday, 15 July.
The board discusses how to comprehensively approach issues such as safeguarding, keeping safe borders and tackling gun crime, and key recommendations are escalated to government ministers.
This week members detailed a number of measures that will be put in place, particularly over the summer carnival, to enhance safety and security in Anguilla.
Three shooting deaths
Three men have died this July in three separate gun-related incidents in Anguilla.
In the latest shooting, one man was killed and another injured sometime before 8.30pm on 14 July in Blowing Point. The injured man was treated at Princess Alexandra Hospital.
Police have not yet named the victim.
Just a few days earlier, on 10 July, 26-year-old Jahreem Carter was killed in a shooting on Long Bay Road.
According to a police statement, officers of the Royal Anguilla Police Force attended the scene to the west of the island shortly after 11.30pm.
They confirmed that a man had been shot and fatally wounded. The scene was locked down and a full investigation began.
On 7 July, police fatally shot a 19-year-old from Rey Hill during a suspected armed robbery at Island Supermarket in White Hill sometime after 4.45pm.
The name of the young man has not yet been made public.
A local investigation has been launched to establish the full circumstances surrounding the incident and a team of investigators from the British Virgin Islands are reviewing the inquiry.
Anyone with information on these or any other incidents can call 911 or (264) 497-2333, or leave an anonymous message at www.gov.ai/911
