Dear Source:
There has been recent talk in the Senate of removing the local Bureau of Corrections from the V.I. Justice Department. Why!
We do not need any more government agencies and the tremendous cost that they carry.
While it is a major responsibility for the V.I. Attorney General to oversee prosecution and incarceration of convicts, it is certainly not unheard of, nor unreasonable. The Attorney General of the United States, who is also head of the U.S. Department of Justice, is not only responsible for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, but the DEA, FBI, INS, Marshal Service and lots of other programs.
Moreover, we once experienced separating the V.I. Bureau of Corrections from another agency, and, then, under the former Reorganization Act, placed it in the current department, where it belongs. The money that we would spend to elevate the head of Corrections to cabinet status could be better spent properly staffing the current operation and providing the equipment and facilities required to run an effective operation.
Let's do more with what we have—creating additional bureaucracy is expensive and has proven not to be the answer. It has been the tradition of the government that instead of fixing problems they move them around.
This has to stop.
Sincerely,
Herbie Lockhart, St. Thomas
