Kingstown Vincent May 7,2026 – The government of St Vincent and the Grenadines says senior police officers will be deployed into schools as part of a wider national security strategy aimed at tackling violence, gang activity and indiscipline among students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Minister of National Security Major St. Clair Leacock announced the measure during a radio interview, saying assistant commissioners of police would be reassigned to maintain a stronger presence within the education system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\u2019re no longer going to have this feeling at the schools that you run things,\u201d Major Leacock said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe police force are going to have a strong presence in the school systems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The move forms part of what the minister has described as a broader \u201cretooling\u201d and restructuring of the Royal St Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force amid increasing concern over violent crime and youth gang activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier this month, Major Leacock announced major changes within the police force, including plans for two deputy commissioners of police and a strengthened operational structure intended to improve crime response and national security coordination. He said the police force \u201chas to be retooled\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The latest school intervention follows several recent incidents involving students that have sparked national debate about violence and discipline within schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In March, education officials, police officers and social stakeholders met during a national consultation on school violence after authorities reported growing concerns over student conflicts, bullying and gang influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the consultation, Education Minister Phillip Jackson warned that the country faced a serious problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cVincy, we have a problem,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senior police officials have also warned about the influence of youth gangs on secondary school students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Assistant Commissioner of Police Trevor \u201cBuju\u201d Bailey said recent incidents had \u201cdisturbed, unsettled, and raised difficult questions across the country\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Authorities have linked some recent acts of violence to rival youth groups known as \u201c6ixx\u201d and \u201c7even\u201d, which police say have attracted school-aged youths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In February, six people, including students and adults, were charged following a public fight near a school sporting event in Peter\u2019s Hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Deputy Commissioner of Police Frankie Joseph has previously warned that school violence now extends beyond physical fights and includes cyberbullying, intimidation, gang influence and weapon-related concerns. The government has not yet announced when the reassignment of senior officers to schools will formally begin or how many officers will be involved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kingstown Vincent May 7,2026 – The government of St Vincent and the Grenadines says senior police officers will be deployed into schools as part of a wider national security strategy aimed at tackling violence, gang activity and indiscipline among students. Minister of National Security Major St. Clair Leacock announced the measure during a radio interview, saying assistant commissioners of police<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":45474,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-local-news"],"yoast_head":"\n