Commissioner of Police Derek Byrne says the RCIPS is receiving intelligence that a number of robberies on illegal gambling outlets are going unreported.
During a spate of armed robberies last year, police had noted that premises with illegal gambling, known locally as ‘numbers’, were being targeted by criminals. During one such hold-up, retired prison officer Harry Elliott, 62, was gunned down and killed.
Byrne, at a press briefing on 2022 crime statistics on Friday, 14 April, said, “The problem is, it’s not really that visible in the community. We all know it’s going on. We … know we had one murder committed in 2022 that was related to gambling.”
He added, “But then we’re picking up from our communication department that a number of robberies have occurred and not been reported to us” because of the victims’ fear of intimidation.
He said recent information from RCIPS crime analysts indicate that numbers operators are taking security matters into their own hands.
“We now think that some of the people engaged in illegal gambling are now protecting themselves by providing or having muscle available to themselves to prevent the robberies from taking place,” he said.
He added, “How we quantify that is a major difficulty because of [the robberies] not being reported to us. So do I think it’s gone away? No, I don’t. Do I think it has an impact on the community? Yes, I do.”
National lottery debate
In an effort to help stamp out illegal gambling in Cayman, politicians in December last year approved a motion to hold a referendum, which would let the voting public decide if a legal lottery system should be launched. There has been no recent word from government on when that referendum will be carried out.
In December, lawmakers also debated increasing penalties for illegal gambling by making amendments to the 60-year-old Gambling Act, which currently has fines as low as $10 for participating in gambling. The proposed amendments included fining those convicted of illegal gambling up to $10,000 or sentencing them to four years in prison.
However, after two days of debate, MPs took no final vote on the Gambling (Amendment) Bill, as Premier Wayne Panton stated at the time that while members agreed illegal gambling and the violence associated with it needed to be curtailed, there was no clear consensus on the way forward. The bill was referred to a select committee of the whole House to be dealt with a future date.
During those debates, Deputy Governor Franz Manderson told legislators that the conservative estimate of the monies generated by illegal gambling syndicates was between $30 million and $50 million a year.
Currently, gambling in any form, apart from raffle tickets for charities, is illegal in Cayman.
The issue of illegal gambling and lawmakers’ failure to vote on the matter appeared to have been at the crux of a rift between former Governor Martyn Roper and former Deputy Premier Chris Saunders, prior to the latter’s departure from the PACT government.
Byrne, speaking to reporters on Friday, said he had made his views on the impact of illegal gambling on the community known publicly and to lawmakers.
“I spoke publicly, as I should as commissioner of police for the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service. I’ve made my views known, but I’m acutely aware that I enforce, I don’t legislate,” he said.
Asked if he felt his and the police’s views on the seriousness of illegal gambling were being taken on board by politicians, the commissioner said, “I’ve gone before Parliament. I’ve made my case. I think that’s been well received. I can’t say what will happen with the outcome, but it’s been very professional, very courteous, very open, in terms of my perspective.
“And my perspective is policing, law enforcement. It’s not a personal perspective. It’s a police service perspective, in terms of what we’re seeing and the impact it’s having on the community. We leave it then with the legislators and government to decide how that’s going to be dealt with.”
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