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NEWS
June 20-26, 2020
TURKS AND CAICOS WEEKLY NEWS
EXCLUSIVE //
Horace Wignal Junior, known as DJ Spookie, died from gunshot wounds
Godly Petiote was just 21-years-old when he was gunned down in Providenciales
Percy Williams, 77, was brutally murdered by armed robbers in his Blue Hills home
TCI homicide rate projected to hit record figures BY REBECCA BIRD IF THE high rate of murders in the TCI continues until the end of the year, the territory is on track to be labelled one of the leading per capita homicide destinations in the world for 2020. After the island nation recorded its 11th murder of the year in early June – just two fewer than last year’s record total of 13 – the Weekly News examined international murder rates. An analysis of the latest statistics revealed that the TCI is set to become one of the global violent crime hotspots if trends continue. Speaking to the Weekly News, Governor Nigel Dakin, who is responsible for internal security, said the number of murders in the TCI is a focus for all involved in law and order. “The raw numbers, of course, are just the crude data and can only start to serve as a reminder of the heart-breaking and life changing events for the victims’ family and their friends.” Lists of homicide rate mark the latest recorded number of murders per 100,000 people – and the territory’s small population means that its can move quickly from the bottom to the top. By June 5, the TCI had tragically
A fully engaged and motivated society can turn the tide against crime in the way we turned the tide against Covid-19 – Governor Nigel Dakin recorded 11 killings. If the rate of 11 murders per five and a half months continues, there will be 24 unlawful deaths by the end of 2020. The Department of Statistic’s Vital Statistics Report 2019 estimated the TCI’s population to be 42,953. A total of 24 homicides per year in a population of 42,953 equates to 55.9 homicides per 100,000 – the homicide rate. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in its 2019 Global Study on Homicide reported a global average homicide rate of 6.1 per 100,000 population in 2017. This rose to 13 in Africa and 17.2 in the Americas – all well below the TCI’s
projected rate. “Using the statistics of 1:100,000 as a comparator to other countries is blunt,” Governor Dakin said, “and perhaps blunt is what we all need to properly understand where we are and where we are headed. “But getting beneath these statistics is also important if we are to understand what’s happening and how to turn this around.” According to the UNODC, El Salvador currently tops the homicide rate list with 52.02 per 100,000 people from 2018 data, and the US Virgin Islands is second at 49.26 from 2012 data. Other Caribbean countries and territories in the top 15 murder capitals
of the world include Saint Vincent and the Grenadines at eight with a rate of 36.5 (2016 data), and Saint Kitts and Nevis at ten with a rate of 32.4 (2012 data). The Bahamas is in spot 11 with a rate of 30.9 (2017 data), Trinidad and Tobago in at 12 with a rate of 30.9 (2015 data) and Anguilla at spot 14 with a rate of 27.7 (2014 data). While statistics are not up to date, the TCI would likely hit the top ten global murder rates, if not the top spot. A ‘BIG SOLUTION’ In responding the Weekly News’ projections, the governor said: “There are a whole range of uplifts across policing, community engagement, legislation and justice sector reform that the Premier and I have spoken to in the recent past, and will speak to again in the future. “But for the moment let me start to describe the problem through numbers and also look at one of the big solutions again through statistics.” Dakin looked back at the past 24 murders, which began on April 8, 2019, and said that 88 percent occurred in Providenciales with the remainder in Grand Turk. Twenty three of the 24 murders were committed using a firearm, and a male was
