The great American police state has come to the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Imagine, booking a vacation to get away from big brother’s facial recognition cameras and license plate readers, only to find out the local police are using them.

Soon you too, can visit beautiful New York City (NYC) in the Caribbean.

What am I talking about you ask? NYC is nowhere near the equator.

Former NYPD policeman and Virgin Island Governor Kenneth Mapp, is turning a beautiful vacation destination into a police state that will rival NYC.

Mr. Mapp has sent local police to train with the NYPD to spy on everyone. This month, the NYPD commissioner is going to vacation, sorry I meant visit Mr. Mapp and the Virgin Island Police Department (VIPD) police to ’mentor’ them.

“The modernization will include the roll out of a new technology infrastructure, a beneficiary of which will include the use of license plate readers and facial recognition systems, “as we try to ensure that we keep track of folks who are committing crime in the Virgin Islands, and ensuring that they are brought to justice in a rapid way,” the governor said. A timeline for the roll out was not given.”

What family, wouldn’t want to be spied on during their vacation?

Future Virgin Island police control room

Traces of Reality

Above is a picture of the NYPD’s real-time crime center which uses facial recognition and license plate readers to spy on residents.

It won’t be long before DHS, creates a real-time crime center in the Virgin islands.

“Chief McFarland will assume all operational command of all of the islands and districts in the Virgin Islands,” the governor said.

What does mentoring mean for the VIPD? Will they be using radiological detectors and create a DNA database of everyone just like their friends at the NYPD? How long before the VIPD uses Z Backscatter x-ray vans to spy on tourists?

And finally, how long before they ‘stop & frisk’ tourists?

Crime in the Virgin Islands is decreasing

Just like their friends in New York, the police and Governor use public safety concerns and crime statistics to justify spying on everyone. The VIPD claims, homicides have increased 25 percent in 2016 but the truth is violent crimes are decreasing.

The Virgin Island Consortium claims that, “homicide was the only crime on the chart that increased year-over-year. Rape fell from 51 cases in 2015 to 33 in 2016; robbery fell from 154 cases in 2015 to 82 in 2016; felony assaults fell from 647 cases in 2015 to 422 in 2016; and burglary dropped from 896 in 2015 to 632 in 2016.”

According to Wikipedia at least 3 million people visit the Virgin Islands every year, they also have a population of approximately 106,000 people. The truth is, crime on the Virgin Islands is minuscule compared to NYC, which had a record low crime year in 2016.

Think about those numbers for a second, over three million people visit the Virgin Islands every year and their biggest crimes are assaults and burglaries. Sounds like any other vacation destination (Hawaii had 2,400 assaults and 1,200 burglaries last year.)

When an informed public has the correct data, it becomes apparent that facial recognition and license plate readers are about control and surveillance.

So if you’re planning a trip to DHS’s newest vacation destination smile, the police will be with you everywhere you go.