Sen. Lorraine L. Berry is proposing legislation to have the Police Department pay sizeable amounts of money for information on drive-by shootings.
Her proposal would authorize the police commissioner to pay up to $50,000 for information leading to the arrest of perpetrators of drive-by shootings
where the someone is killed, Berry said. The police could pay up to $25,000 for information leading to the arrest of persons who participate in drive-by shootings where injuries occur.
"We have got to take drastic action to halt the wave of drive-by shootings in the V.I.," Berry said on weekend political broadcasts on St. Thomas and St. Croix.
On April 10 Ellis Blyden Jr. was shot and killed outside the Hometown Convenience Store in Anna's Fancy by shots fired from a passing car. Two days later, two men were shot near the Lionel Roberts Stadium, reportedly in retaliation for Blyden's death.
That night, in a separate incident, one man was shot near the Red Ball Grocery in Savan and another, 21-year-old Eustice Cerio, was killed apparently in retaliation for the Red Ball attack.
Berry offered no timetable as to when the proposal will be formally introduced for Senate consideration.
