Retired Jamaican Deputy Police Commissioner Fitz Bailey has accepted a temporary role in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) to help address rising crime, particularly gang violence. Bailey, who brings over 40 years of investigative experience, is set for an initial three-month stint. While acknowledging he holds no “magic wand” to solve the crisis, Bailey aims to apply his expertise in managing violence, especially amid concerns over the influence of Jamaican gangs in the region. His efforts are part of a broader initiative to enhance safety across CARICOM nations.

'I dont't have any magic wand'

Fitz Bailey says TCI mission about making CARICOM safer for everyone

Jamaica Gleaner/6 Oct 2024/Livern Barrett Senior Staff Reporter 

THE JAMAICAN Government is exploring several options to have Fitz Bailey, a retired deputy police commissioner, remain in the local public sector.

However, National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang, who made the disclosure, declined to discuss possible landing spots for Bailey, saying that this would be decided by the Public Service Commission.

Nearly a month after his retirement from the Jamaican police force, Bailey is scheduled to leave Jamaica tomorrow to take up a temporary appointment as deputy police commissioner in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI).

“They reached out to me and made an offer and I accepted a short-term engagement,” he told The Sunday Gleaner, confirming that the stint is for an initial three months with the possibility for an extension. Chang acknowledged that Bailey is retired and free to choose his “destination”, but said the skill sets developed by the respected investigator over a 40-year career are needed in his homeland.

WE HAVE THE NEED FOR HIS SKILL

“I would like to have him here,” Chang insisted, referring to Bailey during an interview with The Sunday Gleaner on Friday. “He is a good investigator and we have the need for his skill. We have had discussions with Mr Bailey, but whatever we do will have to go through the Public Service Commission.” Bailey, 60, retired last month after a four-decade career that includes stints as commanding officer for the Fraud Squad, the St Andrew Central Police Division and the Counter-Terrorism and Organised Crime Division.

He sought to temper expectations about his tenure in the TCI, the popular tourist destination now grappling with record levels of killings.

In 2022, TCI – a British Overseas Territory with a population of roughly 46,000 people – recorded 34 murders, a record high for a single calendar year that set off alarm bells among sections of the population.

Thirty-three murders between January 1 and late September this year, one short of tying the macabre record almost three months before year end.

“I’m not going there with any magic. I don’t have any magic wand to wave,” Bailey told The

Sunday Gleaner.

“I have experience, I have knowledge about policing and I have the training, … so you just assess, apply the training, the management skill, and your own experience working in a country where we have high [levels of] violence,” he added.

JAMAICAN GANGSTERS

In a 2022 speech to the House of Assembly in the TCI, Governor Nigel John Dakin blamed the surge in murders on Jamaican gangsters.

According to Dakin, two local gangs had lost their respective leaders – one killed by cops reportedly while resisting arrest and the other killed by his cronies – allowing the “predominantly Jamaican” gang to try and fill the void.

“Using military-grade highvelocity weaponry, the vast majority of the murders in September [2022] have been targeted and linked to this enlarged and now-emboldened gang trying to remove who they believe are the local drug and arms smuggling competition,” the TCI governor said.

Bailey admitted that initially he was hesitant about the role, but said he was motivated by doing his part to make the CARICOM region a safer place.

“We are part of the whole CARICOM and the fact is we want the region to be safe, whether its Turks and Caicos, Barbados, or Trinidad [& Tobago]. If they are safer, then the whole Caribbean is safer,” he reasoned.

“It’s about looking at the CARICOM experience and supporting another Caribbean country in their effort to reduce crime and that’s one of the motivations.”

“I have experience, I have knowledge about policing and I have the training, … so you just assess, apply the training, the management skill, and your own experience working in a country where we have high [levels of] violence.”

For feedback: contact the Editorial Department at onlinefeedback@gleanerjm.com.