Governor Albert Bryan has welcomed a decision by the federal government in Washington to allow states and territories to use COVID-19 relief funds to fight gun violence.
In a statement, Bryan said President Joe Biden’s directive has provided the US Virgin Islands with an unprecedented opportunity to make significant inroads in curbing violent crime.
“We have a tremendous opportunity now with President Biden’s green light to significantly increase the tools we need. These resources will help us purchase more equipment, hire more officers and add more cameras to our growing surveillance network to help stop the violent crime plaguing our community,” Bryan said. “We also plan to use these resources to purchase additional scanning equipment at our Territory’s ports.”
A directive from the Treasury Department said relief funds can be used to hire police officers and other law enforcement officials, prosecute gun traffickers and obtain new technology to respond to gun violence.
Bryan said that crime has risen dramatically across the US since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bryan noted the USVI recorded 3,119 violent crimes with 608 arrests in 2019-2020 compared to 4,324 violent crimes with 524 arrests in 2017-2018.
The Virgin Islands Police Department seized 375 firearms in 2019-2020 versus 256 in 2017-2018.