Source reporter and cameraman James Gardner recently got the chance to help film an upcoming episode of "Cops V.I.." This is his firsthand account of his day with the men and women of V.I. law enforcement.
I came home from Puerto Rico a couple weeks ago and while unpacking my bags, I noticed that Channel 8 was playing “CopsV.I.” I found myself no longer concentrating on my suitcase but watching the television.
I couldn’t believe the territory had its own cops program. And at that point, I knew that I would love to film it, be behind the camera over here on St. Thomas.
A few weeks later, I got the chance. We met up at the V.I. Police Department’s command center by the airport and went into the back room to have a briefing. The room was filled with officers—from regular uniformed police to officers from Licensing and Consumer Affairs, Health, Fire, and Planning and Natural Resources.
While Deputy Police Chief Dwayne DeGraff gave his orders, I couldn’t help but look around the room and notice how serious everyone was. And then I started to notice the size of some of the guns the officers had – the likes of which I have only seen playing “Call of Duty.”
When the briefing was over, everyone rounded up their gear and I was handed a bulletproof vest, which had to be at least 50 pounds. It appeared that I was not only going to film the cops doing their jobs, but I was also going to possibly be in the line of fire.
When the officers got into their cars, it was almost like they got into formation, one after another, about six cars deep; and on the chief’s word, the leader headed into the Kirwan Terrace Housing Community, going past AMCO and coming around the back side. As the cars rolled up on the scene, we came to a sudden stop and all the officers rushed out.
I jumped out of the police car, following DeGraff and VIPD Public Information Officer Melody Rames. By the time I hit the sidewalk, officers were already patting down some guys they had against the fence, while about two feet away, some more officers, along with DeGraff and Rames, had found some bags of marijuana in the bush.
As the officers collected the bags and were taking the suspects into custody, some suspicious behavior a little further down the street led them to some more pot, and to an area containing some chairs and a bench, where DeGraff said people would sit and sell to others passing by.
Out of nowhere, a girl appeared, asking for her chair, and when officers asked her why her chair was outside, she replied, “It’s not a crime to sit outside in a chair.” She started mouthing off to the officers a bit, asking why they didn’t go solve some real crimes instead of “bothering people.” While she got her chair and walked off, DeGraff turned to us and said it was her suspicious behavior that brought them down the street.
Along with the six cars in the group, there was a truck that went around collecting the different chairs, benches and tables that police picked up throughout the night. DeGraff said it’s important to collect these items so the criminal element doesn’t have a place to come back to.
With the three suspects in hand, officers got into their cars and we headed out again. The one car with the suspects went to central booking, while the rest of us continued on the route. We kicked it into high gear when a call came over the radio saying that there was a possible break-in at Addelita Cancryn Junior High School.
But when we came to the front of Cancryn, we saw a security guard sitting in a chair, and a large group of people walking around the campus. We found out the group was coming from a meeting, while the alarm was really coming from around back, by the pre-school.
The alarm was blaring when we got around to the other side. Once again, everyone got out of their cars, but this time the K-9 Unit took the lead, heading out with what seemed to be a vicious dog.
And as they opened the gate and entered the premises, one of the officers and his dog went right inside when they found an opened door, followed closely by DeGraff, who was quickly reminded of the dangers of working with unfamiliar police dogs.
While the officer was inside searching, DeGraff came back out, explaining that because the dog wasn’t familiar with his scent, he could be mistaken for a suspect.
A search of the premises turned up nothing, so the officers set the alarm and locked the door. We were off again.
We hit some convenience stores where more chairs and tables were collected, while officers from Health, along with those from Licensing and Consumer Affairs (DLCA), also went inside to make sure all the businesses’ paperwork and permits were in place.
After a little of that, we met up with the officers at central booking, where, in the parking lot, there was a brief roundup, and DeGraff once again told them what was going on.
Lined up again, we headed east, toward Frydenhoj Ballpark, where we made a quick stop, allowing Fire officers to talk to one fruit stand owner about removing an abandoned grill from in front of his store because it could be a potential fire hazard.
Officers then headed to Smith Bay and ended up at a local bar behind the old Domino’s Gas Station. Once there, officers once again rushed the area, where they found more dime bags, and this time, Rames got into the act, finding something herself.
Inside, the bar had a tree growing directly in the middle of it, and when the police asked the owner for his papers, they found he hadn’t had any since the bar opened 30 years ago. Police told everyone to leave, and the bar was shut down.
By midnight, we were stationed at the intersection by Tutu Park Mall, where officers spread out to do traffic stops and ended up impounding the vehicle of an older man who didn’t have a license or his registration. The highlight of the night, however, was when officers pulled over a family who asked us, “Are you Cops V.I.?”
They were excited, saying that they had watched the program and loved it, so when we asked them to be on the show, they jumped at the opportunity.
Oswald Harris Court was next on the list, and by the time we got there, it had to be around 1 or 1:30 a.m. Pulling up just past Wheatley Center, there was a group of about 10 to 15 guys sitting, playing dominoes. When the police pulled up, they remained calm, and as they were patted down, they found nothing on their body, but on the floor, there were more dime bags.
Police confiscated the drugs, along with the chairs and tables they were using, and sent them on their way. DeGraff explained that as long as they had nothing in their pockets or on them, by law, they could not be arrested—there would have to be an eyewitness or some other form of proof to show that they had dropped the drugs on the floor, he said.
DeGraff also explained that drug dealers like to stay in cluttered areas, where they can drop things and have them blend into the surroundings.
By the time we turned in a few hours later, police had recovered 16 dime bags and multiple grams of marijuana, along with 30 bags of cocaine picked up from a man police caught earlier that night in the Contant area.
In short, it was an interesting night.
Living on the island my whole life, I’ve heard talk of corrupt cops and lazy officers, but the ones I was with that night were anything but. Everything they did was like a tactical operation, from the way they moved in packs to the way they surrounded the area when they arrived.
I see now there’s a lot more to police work than just pulling the gun.
Speaking with Rames after the shoot, I learned the department plans to shoot as many episodes of the show as they can.
“For television shows, when there’s a new series, I know you do something like 21 episodes, but we can’t say how many we’re going to do, just that we want to do it in on a regular basis,” she said. “But the public is so excited about it, we don’t think we can crank it out fast enough. But police work is difficult, because you don’t know what you’re going to meet up with every day, and we still are short-staffed, so we’re going to put them out as much as we can.”
“Cops V.I.” is an initiative born out of VIPD’s Public Affairs division, launched after the department began putting together its following on Facebook and ramping up its press release efforts, she said.
“’Cops V.I. was a natural progression, something that was inevitable to do,” Rames said. “And whatever the next initiative is as well, our goal is to be transparent and to let the people of the territory be as proud as we are on a daily basis.”
The program has already been taping on St. Croix, and Rames said the department will begin heavily promoting its next few episodes within the week.
“Cops V.I.” can be seen on channels 8 and 10.
