Top cop says latest murder was gang related

| 19/10/2009

(CNS): Although the commissioner of police has not held a press briefing or made any wider public statements regarding the murder of 24 year old Fabian Reid in Newlands on Tuesday night (13 October), he has told News 27 that he believes the shooting was a retribution attack, possibly connected with the last three or four murders that have taken place in George Town and West Bay. David Baines said it was gang related, and although police have been working to keep the rival gangs apart it was not enough to prevent this latest killing.

He told the television news that he was looking at providing anonymity for witnesses and the commissioner also spoke about removing the right to a trial by jury for those charged of gang related murders. “We are looking at witness protection on the Islands,” he said, and noted the reluctance of juries to convict because of potential repercussions.

Reid, who was the seventh person murdered in the Cayman Islands this year, was shot dead whilst driving his car in North Sound Estates around 10:00pm in the evening on Tuesday. He was killed in a hail of bullets fired into the car he was driving by what were described as three masked gunmen, who witnesses say walked away from the scene of the crime. One woman who was also in the car with Reid escaped with her life, according to a witness, who said that when the shooting stopped, the woman ran into a nearby house. When the ambulance came to the scene, they found Reid under a dock and took him to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. 

No arrests have yet been announced in connection to this shooting, which is understood to be linked to the death of Carlo Webster, who was shot dead in the Next Level Night Club last month, and of 28 year old Omar Samuels, who was shot in McField Lane George Town in July. Three men have since been charged in connection with his murder.

There is still speculation over the death of Marcus Ebanks who was shot and killed in Bonaventure Road by masked gunmen, who opened fire on him, his friends and his brother, who was also seriously injured, and its connection to the recent spate of escalating gang violence. No charges have been made in connection with this incident, although a number of people were arrested and subsequently released.

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  1. Anonymous says:

    CNS, I take it you didn’t like my suggestion involving vans and quarries?   

    CNS: I’m a little behind with going through the comments (apologies to everyone) and I haven’t seen this one. I’m intrigued though. I can’t wait to read it….

  2. Anonymous says:

    Lastnight I was watching a program run by the US Marshal’s where the officers went on one scene and arrested around 16 guys on warrents and during that raid they got drugs and guns off the streets.

    I proposed that the Commissioner of Police should go to the US Marshal’s Office or the DEA in the UNITED STATES not the UK and hire a few guys who do this every day.

    I would say about 10 or 15 of them since you know that they are that amount of known criminals re gun related.

    Get several warrents issued and knock down a few doors, look for drugs, guns and if you find any arrest everyone in the house.  Have Social Workers on hand to take the children and so on.  Do this for several months, stop this spot check rubbish, go in the areas because you all know them and if you don’t you should not be working as a Police officer. Full Northward Prison and the jails.  Work your a** off and we will help you when we see that you mean business.

    This would be a good start.  Don’t forget your cameras and build your database of these criminals.

    my 2 cents

  3. Anonymous says:

    The parrellel with UK gangs is probably more apt than US gangs.  The UK gang is not ‘gangster’ modelled, it is about young boys and men in a society that has few weapons getting their hands on weapons and wanting to become something bigger.  It is about territory and ownership – and may well come down to family and friendship ties.  The Commissioner comes from a background that saw the rise of gun and knife crimes, he worked an area of Salford in Manchester where the drug fuelled gun crime was the worst in the UK for some time and people died.  Read his bio – it is true – he was at the head when it turned around.   Has he made any rash statements about what he and the RCIPS will do – no.  But there is a well known saying ‘softly, softly, catchee monkey’ – I am sure the Commissioner and the RCIPS are not sitting back. If there is little information coming out, well perhaps there is a good reason.  I get the impression there’s not a lot going the other way?

  4. Anonymous says:

    Gangs is not a UK thing its more of a US thing and you need to stamp them out before they start! if you say you haven’t got any gangs on the island than you are living in dreamland!

    stamp out these gangs before they getter bigger and more serious! 

    i for one as a tourist will think twice about coming to GC if it carries on becoming more and more unsafe!

     

  5. Anonymous says:

    Not according to Ex Govt minister Truman Bodden they are merely groups who come together to do mischief.Life is for the rich is bliss Eh!

    • Worried Caymanian says:

      lol, I too remember when that was published on the front page of the local papers some 12 years ago. 

      I was fresh out of high school and remember that even in those days, if you were a part ofthe x-y group you could not go into the "territory" (on the school compound) of another group, not unless you wanted a proper beat down.  It really escalated in the Tupac and Biggie days. You would clearly see the boys in their bandanas and one pants leg rolled up, flashing their gang signs etc.   

      Politicians were fooling themselves from then.  If they had addressed the issues from those times, then perhaps we would not be on our 7th murder for the year.  Oh, and dont foolyourself if you think this will be the last one for the year either.  I do not wish to see bad for my little Island but, when you sweep dirt under the carpet for too long, it will eventually start to show and unfortunately this dirt is showing red :(.  

      I pray for my Island and I hope that everyone would start doing the same!! People need to resume being their brother’s keeper  and stop being too busy to care about what your next door neighbours child is doing and where!! 

  6. Anonymous says:

    GANGS?      That’s British talk.   FAMILY and FRIENDS  That’s more realistic in this community  commissioner.

  7. UniqueCommonSense says:

    Fools, idiots????

    Are you so full-of-yourself to think that you’ll tell us Caymanians that the crime is being carried out by 15 individuals, which of course you haven’t found a practical nor legal way of making any arrest of any of these 15, and now you’re telling us that is gang related????? Huh???

    Mr. Baines, you are only fooling yourself here. You either provide us with the information that is factual AFTER you have made an arrest. No, no, hold on…..AFTER the Court have found him/her guilty……

    Don’t belittle our intelligence.

    • Anonymous says:

      gangsta gangsta. I live with my mom and drive around in this crappy car with sweet rims. check out my gatt. I’m a gangsta. I’m cool right ?

       

      What a bunch of jokes.

    • Anonymous says:

      Sir, with all due respect, what is your intelligent solution?  There seems to be a serious level of "denial" in most responses posted. If we have no gangs. If we have no drugs. If all expats are rubbish. What is your solution? What is the reason this is happening?

    • Anonymous says:

      no one wants to belittle your intelligence but you are making harder and harder but writing inane comments like this – If you actually read what Mr Baines said, you would know that he never said that all the crime was being commited by 15 people! He said that 15 people were responsible for most of the importation of guns onto the island. 

      Please be the bigger person and publically apologise to Mr Baines, he is doing an excellent job with very little help from the judiciary or government. 

  8. Theres No GANGS in Cayman says:

    Theres no Gangs in cayman trust me ! this lil kids running around with guns i dont call them GANGSTERS! They just watch too much TV and Dont have nothing better to do. U’ll wanna see gangster go to Compton or anywhere in New york!

  9. EggFuYung says:

    Interesting read. This was aboout the time that some began to admit the mere existence following the previous denial of Chief Education Officers and Education Ministers.

     

    Gang war is on

     

    Tad Stoner

    Thursday 28th April, 2005   Posted: 18:59 CIT   (23:59 GMT)

    Police Special Branch has merged with the Joint Intelligence Unit and one part of its remit to combat Cayman’s growing gang problem.

    Cayman police are battling about 13 gangs with a hard–core membership of fewer than 100 people island–wide, although their activities are marked by escalating violence.

    Membership figures are supplemented by dozens of younger supporters, drifting in and out of association with other gang members, creating a fluid situation that makes documentation difficult.

    The numbers, says Detective Sergeant Patrick Beersingh, a top Special Branch officer, are based on the 2001 findings of an ongoing nine–year study of gangs in schools and the community at large.

    Follow the link for the remainder of the article

    http://www.caycompass.com/cgi-bin/CFPnews.cgi?ID=1003108

     

    • Anonymous says:

      Wonder why the police are not viewed as treating this seriously – below are some of the penal code offences relating to gang membership and activities. Since mere membership attracts a 20 year prison term (10 year minimum) , and we know of at least 100 gang members, why have none been arrested for mere membership.   Pretty easy to spot them – just check the (dis)honour guards at funerals.

       

      Please just enforce our existing laws, with the information you already have, and we will recover. No more talk – just do it.

      232. Whoever –

      (a) participates in or contributes to the activities of a gang knowing that any or all of the members of the gang engage in or have, within the preceding three years, engaged in the commission of a series of indictable offences, or offences under the Misuse of Drugs Law (2000 Revision), for each of which the maximum punishment is imprisonment for three years or more; and

      (b) is a party to the commission of an indictable offence, or an offence under the Misuse of Drugs Law (2000 Revision), for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with, the gang, for which the maximum punishment is imprisonment for three years or more,

      is guilty of an offence and liable to a fine of five hundred thousand dollars and to imprisonment for twenty years, subject to a minimum term of imprisonment of ten years.

      • Anonymous says:

        All very interesting however try actually proving beyond reasonable doubt in front of a Caymanian jury without any eye witnesses prepared to go to court….

        • Anonymous says:

          Two words: Video Tape

           

          And anyway – who said convict – just arrest them and throw them in lock-up for 48 hours. 

  10. Inspector Clueso says:

    Well doneSherlock Baines. Keep up the good work

  11. Anonymous says:

    Remember we don’t have a gang problem??????

  12. Anonymous says:

    WE NEED TO TELL THIS GANGS WANABE WHAT CASTRO TELL HIS PEOPLE IN CUBA YOU STEAL YOU WILL HAVE NO HANDS, YOU KILL SOME ONE YOU WILL BE KILL. NO TRIAL IN COURT AT THAT. EVEN IF IT THE WRONG PERSON TELL ME WHO WANT TO TAKE THE CHANCE,THAT IS HIS RULES AND IT IS WORKING. WHEN YOU GO TO CUBA IT IS SO SAFE, POLICE EVERY WHERE, AND THEY ARE SO POOR THEY SAY!!!. 

    • Cuban says:

      You dont now Cuba that well, that is not the way things work over there, there is a law, and there is trials for every single crime, they dont cut hands or use Talion’s Law, eye for an eye, what they do is enforce the law, even if that means taking some of your rights using loopholes on the law, if there is such an escalation in crime like is happening here on the island is not the police who takes care of that, is the State Security (or secret service if you wanna call it like that) and beleive me, you dont want them behind you because you are going down, aint matter if you are a general or a gardener, you are done, but there is one thing in the law that is really helpfull, and is asociation to commit a crime, if two or more people plan a crime, aint matter which one we are talking about, you up to three times the maximum for that one, so if you an a buddy talk about stealing a tshirt out of a yard and you do it, normally that will be 5 years but because you did plans for it you get 15, that is why we dont have gangs.

      • Anonymous says:

        Everyday i thank God for the socialist republic of Cuba, a great example to the Caribbean and the world. Education(and not necessarily  middle eastern type laws) is one major reason why crime is low in Cuba. I have visited Cuba several times and i find Cubans to be honest people living in brotherly love, Cubans also abhor crime.Long live the Castro brothers and may Cuba continue to be a shining example to the world!

  13. Merilyn says:

    Cayman has to come up with some serious gang intervention programs NOW!!! Someone needs to set up shop and stop the madness before it’s too late. Gang-Intervention.org is a good place to start. Set up screen in all districts and show these videos. Bring in ex-gang members to speak to these kids who are all looking for recognition and power through violence. Be careful of recognizing or naming gangs. That will only make them feel more powerful.

    Damn! I can’t believe this is happening on my little Island. I grew up with 15,000 people. At 50,000 strong, we now see what population growth can do to a little piece of heaven on earth. Progress??? I beg your pardon.

       

    • Anonymous says:

      Personally, I don’t think there’s a need to bring in ex-gang members to speak to the youths.

      It’s all the same ol’ story, disenfranchised, high unemployment…..there’s a disconnect between the underprivileged and the well-to-do. There’s an even bigger disconnect between the leaders and the people who have to live in those communities, with lack of opportunities, advancement…..Sometimes this can be described as taking care of their own communities, and getting their own opportunities.

      It’s not going to help matters by bringing in foreign workers for lower-skilled workers – they will have to compete with each other.

      However, it would be a good idea to find out what attracts people to gangs – this can give greater insight into what happens when a community feels neglected, and abandoned by their leaders, and what will happen if they refuse to get involved.

      • Anonymous says:

        Thank you for your intelligent commentary. Sadly – this has been sorely lacking in the discussion of the increase in crime.

        It is disenfranchisement – pure and simple. As the gap between the haves and the have nots widens – it will only get worse.

        Not only will our young men kill each other, but as resentment grows they will voice it through violence directed at those who embody all that they do not have – the rich, the foreign.

        All we have to do is look at Jamaica for the example.

         

        • Anonymous says:

          Yes, thank you. Another thing I don’t see talked about much here, is the criticism. I’ve noticed how some of the comments are criticizing the native tongue of the Caymanians. Although, I have to admit, sometimes I have to read something more than once when it’s written by the natives; but, I eventually understand. Example, ‘wah, dem…."

          I grew up in an inner city. More specifically, South Central Los Angeles. I went through my entire childhood, teenage years, in school, using slang, or, should I say native tongue.  I entered the workforce and was often teased for my grammar, or lack thereof. Example, "yup, yep, yeah, instead of yes. Nah, nope, instead of no."

          Eventually, I entered college and had to start at the beginning with English.

          It is paramount, that educators change this practice of not teaching proper English and/or grammar to all students. This, in itself, lacks fundamental fairness. 

  14. Anonymous says:

    The violence will continue for sure. I have no doubt.

    Before the middle of November 2009 another killing(s) will take place with an illegal firearm. Wanna bet ???

      

  15. Anonymous says:

    Witness Protection Program is a good start. However, sounds like it’s time to get real training there. FWIW, at least if no training is offered, time to get some books. Try reading a book by "Tookie Williams," former head of street gang in Los Angeles. While you’re at it, read up on the Chicago street gang, "Black P. Stone Rangers," this is all about how they started, and ended up even more powerful when they changed the name to El Rukin. ***At first it was rivalry with Black Stone Rangers vs. Gangster Disciples, Vice Lords….

    If no time to read, for Heaven’s Sake, attend some of the Gang Seminars in the U.S.

    Believe me when I say, if you don’t start now, it will be a lostcause! I have recommended the books above, because, this is more than rivalry – the islands is too small for rivalry. This is more about power, amongst other things.

  16. CatMan says:

    Wow, 24 hrs since I’ve looked at CNS and no comments on this.  I guess that is a comment in itself as to what extent the criminals are ruling our rock.