In a yearend message to the community, V.I. Police Commissioner Rodney Querrard urged Virgin Islanders to forgo marking the new year with a barrage of gunfire and warned that the police will be attempting to monitor and enforce this law.
The audio statement was released Monday afternoon and can be heard here.
"I am asking for the full cooperation of all of you in not discharging firearms at midnight on New Year’s Eve,” Querrard said. "First, it’s illegal. Second, what goes up must come back down."
Querrard said each year across the U.S. mainland and as close as Puerto Rico there are reports of casualties from people struck by bullets fired into the air in celebration which tumbled back to earth.
"Let us not have to be included in those statistics," the commissioner said.
Querrard said the police will be out in force, monitoring shots "for all violations of the law in reference to the discharging of firearms. We will be recommending full prosecution to the Attorney General’s Office for those found to be in violation of the law."
The commissioner thanked the community for the help it’s offered to the police department in 2013 and said more such assistance will be needed for 2014.
"We as a community faced many challenges in 2013 but we survived, because we’re not a people who give up easily," he said. "We want to thank those of you who continued to be our eyes and ears. Without you, we as a department would not be able to make the progress we have seen."
Querrard blamed the trouble on "a minority, not the majority, who continue to show disrespect for everyone, including their families, friends and loved ones, by terrorizing and committing crimes against our people." But if the community stands strong, he said, the criminals’ days are numbered.
"Our elders have a saying, ‘A thief has 99 days but one day he will pay for all.’ It is just a matter of time before those committing these crimes are brought to justice."
In the meantime, he said, people need to step up, keeping a vigilant eye on the community and partnering with the police for everyone’s sake.
"Let us step up as a people to say something, before it escalates with someone becoming the victim of a crime or the suspect in a crime," Querrard said. "We have the power to do this, but we must do it together."
