EDITORIAL: The Bogeyman We Need

By THE ST. CROIX SUN EDITORIAL BOARD

The viral response to the Glenn Dratte follow-up confirms what we already knew: the public has no appetite for the carefully curated "optics" being fed to them by the current establishment. While the puppet masters—Glen Dratte, Ken Mapp, and Jonathan Cohen—continue to pull the strings of VIPD leadership, the territory is left wondering when an adult will finally re-enter the room.

The Federal Standard

We don't need to look for a new model of leadership; we already had one. Trevor Velinor wasn't just a commissioner; he was a standard. To the rank and file who were comfortable with the status quo, he was a "bogeyman."

They feared him for the exact reason the public should demand his return: Accountability. Under Velinor, a "screw up" wasn't something that could be smoothed over with a local connection or a quiet nod. It meant the potential for a federal count, not just a Virgin Islands Code violation. He brought a level of "above-board" transparency that made the shadow-players uncomfortable. That is exactly why he had to go, and it is exactly why we need him—or a clone of his "beyond reproach" approach—back at the helm.

The July 1858 production of Shibaraku at the Ichimura-za theater theatre in Edo. Triptych woodblock print by Utagawa Toyokuni III.

Cutting the Strings

For too long, the VIPD has been treated like Kabuki theater. Whether it's the PR spin of Dratte or the lingering influence of Mapp and Cohen, the department has been directed by those in the wings rather than those on the front lines.

We are advocating for a return to the Velinor era of transparency. We need a leader who isn't interested in being "managed" or "directed" by political operatives. We need someone who understands that the only way to fix the VIPD is to make the consequences of failure real, federal, and final.