The 2017 Carnival season has already started even though the Festival Village has not yet officially opened. The “Causeway Jump–up” has already taken place and it was unfortunate and unnecessary that a 14 year old boy was seriously injured by another teenage boy with a weapon during this event. Due to the severity of the injuries the victim sustained he was flown off island for further medical treatment. A teenage girl was also injured during this incident and treated for her injuries. The suspect in this case has been arrested and remains in custody for further investigation.
The Police Department is hereby sending out a very stern message to all youngsters and their parents. The Police Department is approaching the Carnival Season with a 0-tolerance policy. Any criminal activity and or misconduct will not be tolerated and will be dealt with immediately and swiftly. There is a “transaction list” with the most occurring criminal activity related to the carnival season which has been published and the Police Department in collaboration with the Public Prosecutor Office will maintain and uphold this policy.
One of the issues that the police department will be addressing during the jump ups are youngsters, men and women, who have their face entirely or partially covered in some form or fashion, to conceal their identity. While they conceal their identity they take advantage to act out with extreme violence against others causing fights and a lot of disruption to others during these events. Police officers will be reacting to this issue, to their discretion, and approaching persons with their face covered asking them to identify themselves with proper identification (Picture I.D.).
Parents should take the responsibility to talk seriously to their children about the consequences of their actions, such as alcohol and drugs use and abuse before they leave house to attend any of these events.