By: Trevor Young
August 28, 2026
As a well trained former police officer by the Regional Security System (RSS) and as an international author of books in my own right, history would not be kind to me when a voice like mine goes silent when there is a chronic escalation of crimes pervading and permeating our small island developing states. But let me be clear to the leaders of these islands: history will not be kind to you either if you ignore my intervention.
The news on radios and online platforms are bombarded with constant shootings which have led to the innocent and untimely deaths of many of our citizens, including our law enforcement officers sworn to protect them.
It seems that these shootings are carried out with total impunity, as the vast majority of these cases remain unsolved. I want to ask these leaders if they forgot their mandate as enshrined in a legally binding memorandum of understanding they signed in 1982, Regional Security System (RSS). They may want to divorce themselves because they didn’t physically sign but the government is continuous and states are bound by the treaties signed by their predecessors.
In light of rising regional threats; are current leaders holding regular, structural national security council meetings as was standard practice in the past? Furthermore, what is the actual substance of these meetings? Are they producing actionable policies or have they devolved into reactionary administrative meetings? Let me state categorically that the mandate of the RSS and its leadership extends far beyond reacting to natural disasters, eradicating marijuana fields or intervening only during moments of political upheaval.
Your sacred duty is to keep the sovereign nations placed in your hands safe – safe from violent criminal elements who actively seek to destabilize our communities and drive fear into the hearts of our citizenry. The RSS possesses the tactical infrastructure, the legal authority, and collective wherewithal to decisively rest this criminal scourge and those who perpetrate it.
Put to rest by ANY possible means.
It is time for leadership to fully deploy that power of the RSS.
Under article 4 of the treaty, its official functions explicitly include, combating threats of national security and ensuring regional stability. Only a few weeks ago I heard the Police commissioner Elvin Williams of St Vincent and the Grenadines on social media saying to the criminals that “the old playbook is closed”
So where is the new playbook?
This statement comes in light of a shooting where three men lost their lives not too far from the police headquarters in the bus terminal area downtown Kingston.
The new play book is the power enshrined in the RSS to protect our countries. The leaders need to take decisive action and take the “shine off the ball of crime”.
Soon to follow was a statement by the police commissioner Everton Jeffers of Antigua and Barbuda, he was heard on news saying to the criminals “we would come and get you and if you are coming with fire, you would meet fire”
NONSENSE!
This is now a cliche to criminals, they are accustomed to these words. Go to the criminals with silence, action and tact.
Guess what?
After both commissioners of police said these words the shooting continued a day or two after.
Why?
Because the OECS leaders need to give the go ahead to put into gear what RSS really means to us and what it would stand for going forward. Certainly, not for criminals to over-run our countries. All of the OECS countries are going through the same endemic crime situation without a shadow of a doubt.
Verbal warnings no longer act as a deterrent to modern criminal networks. The RSS is designed to pool military and police resources across the Eastern Caribbean State to combat transnational crime, illegal firearms trafficking and border vulnerabilities. The OECS leaders must now move past standard policing methods and procedures and fully leverage regional frameworks to reclaim not only the streets but our beloved countries.
It is completely understandable to feel angry and deeply concerned about this current situation which directly threatens the safety of communities, forces local businesses to cut their hours and scares away foreign investors who help to build the economy.
The tragic incident of officer Trevon Giddings who was shot while reporting to a crime scene in Potters Village, Antigua and subsequently had his leg amputated because gun men opened fire on him, underscored the extreme dangers law enforcement faces daily. It makes complete sense that citizens want a decisive response from the RSS to restore order, protect officers and to secure the country’s future. Police forces relying on these cliches, gives criminal networks the confidence that they can out-wait or out-manover local law enforcement.
The time has come for the talk against crime to stop and let us see ACTION.
“Deeds not words!”
(The author presently serves as an Examination officer with the Antigua and Barbuda Transport Board. His career spans law enforcement, regional security, politics, authorship and public service. He is an experienced voice on crime, justice, security, accountability and national responsibility.)
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