New Police Commissioner to Reshuffle Leadership at Department, Says Governor Bryan; VIPD to Pursue Robberies 'Harder'

Police Commissioner Nominee Ray Martinez will lead a leadership shakeup at the Virgin Islands Police Department in a restructuring effort whose end goal is to see more effective policing, Governor Albert Bryan said over the weekend.

Speaking to the Consortium Sunday, the territory's leader spoke to the wave of crimes occurring in the USVI and said Mr. Martinez, who has spent an entire career at the V.I.P.D., was well positioned to place individuals in roles that would extract their best performance.

"Expect to see the commissioner come out with some leadership changes because he's been in there a while, [and] he's tried to study who's better at what, and I think these leadership changes that he's going to do are more of a statement about best fit rather than nonperformance," Mr. Bryan said.

The governor said while the current police chief positions would most likely remain in place, positions such as deputy chiefs and other important roles within the department that affect crime-fighting would be rearranged. He further stated that while former Police Commissioner Trevor Velinor tried to put people in place that Mr. Velinor believed would best fit their skillset, Mr. Martinez "has a historical understanding of people's skills, and I think he's going to use that knowledge to try to better create a team."

People won't be let go during the reshuffle, the governor stated. "We don't want to lose anybody off of our team because we don't have enough crime-fighting capability."

Mr. Bryan spoke to the violent crime the territory has been experiencing. On the homicides, he said, "There are these key shooters that we need to get off the street that are creating this mayhem."