The police have agreed to increase patrols at a number of “trouble spots” – including three secondary schools where young people gather after school hours – in an effort to curb escalating youth violence.
National security minister, Steadroy Benjamin, announced the measures following meetings with senior police officers in which solutions to the national crisis were tabled.
“We have decided that there will be increased police presence at these three schools: the Ottos Comprehensive, the Clare Hall Secondary and the Princess Margaret School, as well as at the YMCA and both the East and West Bus Stations,” Benjamin said.
Additionally, the Public Safety Minister also announced a new policy aimed at reining in “the lawless behaviour” of groups of mainly young men who have been recorded on video wielding machetes and other weapons.
“We are taking a no-nonsense approach to this threat to public safety and breaches of the laws. Anyone found with machetes and other weapons in public places, and who engage in fights, will be dealt with like any other person who breaks the laws of Antigua and Barbuda,” he declared.
He said the recent spate of youth-on-youth violence was “a troubling development” that must be curtailed immediately.
“We are not going to sit idly by and allow this [lawlessness] to go unchecked,” he said.
Benjamin said he has been meeting around-the-clock with law enforcement officials trying to find solutions to the problem.
The minister added that it was noteworthy that all the incidents of youth violence are centred in and around the city.
“None of the schools in the countryside such as Jennings or All saints Secondary have reported any such incidents. That fact has not been lost on us,” he said.
While no one has yet been charged with a crime stemming from any of the reported incidents, Benjamin said investigations are ongoing and hinted that charges may soon be filed.