East End Long Look Police Station Left Unattended For Hours, Says Residents

Community Threatens Protest Action And Demands 24-Hour Police Protection

Some residents of East End have today accused the police of leaving the East End Long Look Police Station in Tortola attended for hours and have threatened to organise a protest.

In an interview with JTV, a resident explained that on July 2 at around 8 a.m., she visited the station to file a report and found an empty building.

There were no members of the Royal Virgin Islands Police Force (RVIPF) in the station for hours.

“The place has been abandoned. I am here knocking at the window and no officer present. We are wide open and at high risk,” the distressed woman shared, adding that “we need to strike (protest) at the East End Police Station.”

She is calling on the Commissioner of Police Mark Collins to address the issue, while stressing that residents are entitled to round the clock police protection.

“Let’s get a message to the head cop that we don’t appreciate being left unattended especially at the station a day after (gun) shots,” she shared, adding that “someone could have been running from an attacker thinking the police would have been there to rescue them, but it’s seems they would have ran into a dead end and possibly to their death. This issue must be fixed immediately.”

On Saturday, July 1 several gunshots were fired in Long Look. No one was reportedly injured.

A short while later, two armed bandits robbed the House of Luxury jewellery store of an undisclosed sum of valuable in the Cyril B Romney Tortola Pier Park.

They fired several gun shots in the air while fleeing the scene of the crime.

The frustrated East End resident shared that “it’s too often man. We are tired and fearful as this is an overly active community. The Commissioner of Police needs to respect us in our own environment, our community and honour our requests. We are entitled to have a fully staff station in East End on a 24-hour basis.”

She added: “The only ones here are the Governor and Commissioner in photo forms hanging on the wall of this station.”