ANGUILLA'S BEST KEPT SECRETS ARE OUT...

L to R: Commissioner Rudolph Proctor, His Excellency Governor 

William Harrison, Earl of Wessex Prince Edwards and the 

Hon. Chief Minister Hubert Hughes.

Most, and major crimes on Anguilla are a direct revenge against corrupt institutions, cover-ups, inefficiencies, selfishness, and bigotry - governments’ lack of empathy, irresponsibility  and lack of leadership - and the Royal Anguilla Police Service (RAPS) disloyalty, incompetence, indiscretions… inadvertently putting lives at risk - creating literally a zero trust between the public and its services. How can we in all honesty blame a public for non-compliance when all those who have sworn to protect it, have failed their fiduciary responsibilities? Anguilla suffers from high numbers of unsolved murders, unsolved missing persons, unsolved criminal damages, numerous other unsolved criminal activities, an overcrowded penal complex, and dozens of criminals prematurely pardoned due to lack of detention space – some of the highest criminal figures per capita, hence the colloquial term: “there’re more out than in”. A nation of criminals on the loose, and a public remains silent. 

Commissioner of the Royal Anguilla Police Service
(RAPS), Mr. Rudolph Proctor

The Commissioner of RAPS is responsible for security, maintaining the Queen’s Peace, and has direction and control over the force’s officers and staff. He is appointed and holds office directly under the Crown, accountable to the law for the exercise of police powers and the delivery of efficient and effective policing, and the management of resources and expenditure by the police force. At all times his Office, constables and staff, remain operationally independent (of local government) in the service of the public. In essence, his position is the de facto minister responsible for internal security on Anguilla. His department has failed miserably…

The RAPS is a colossal failure. The public is calling for its Commissioner to do the honourable thing by resigning, rather than to be pushed. It’s called responsibility - whether ministerial or departmental. This is basic with any form of administration in any democratic system of government. But then again, in 2008, the then Minister of Infrastructure, Communications, Utilities, Housing, Agriculture and Fisheries, in the Government of Anguilla, Mr. Kenneth Harrigan, didn’t resign after he pleaded guilty to two Summary Charges of being in possession of unlicensed firearms. The weapons were described in the Magistrate’s Court as being a Titan Tiger special .38 Revolver and a Remington Shotgun. Mr. Harrigan, who had been licensed previously to hold the firearms, had failed to renew the licences for a number of years.

Former Minister of Infrastructure, Communications, 

Utilities, Housing, Agriculture and Fisheries,
Mr. Kenneth Harrigan

When a people deviate from the norms and the laws of our land, the society is in decadence. In the traditional Anguilla, hard work, respect for others and their belongings, the protection of one’s dignity and name and that of one’s family, honesty, constitute the basic ingredients of morality – and there were plenty to boast about. Let us not be so quick to blame and condemn the acts of our youths purely as a result of absentee fathers, neglectful parents or parents who are just a "human ATM" dispensing cash but no discipline. Those in authority must also realise that they too are responsible, and are de facto mentors for our youths, and such incompetence, irresponsible actions and unethical behaviours supported by a corrupt system can only have adverse severe negative effects on our youths – they are your legacy.

By: Wilful