Police across St. Vincent and the Grenadines are examining graffiti and street markings on buildings as a tool to understand criminal gang networks, following a mass shooting in Green Hill that left multiple people dead.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Brenton Smith, who oversees crime operations, said investigators found distinctive symbols scrawled on a structure near the fatal incident. Homicide and gang specialists are now determining whether those markings connect to active gang activity or other organized crime.
Smith noted that the tags reveal important details about how gangs control territory and identify themselves across the island. The symbols help police distinguish between what officers call "the six" and "the seven," different factions identified by their respective markings.
"For a person to deface public buildings like that, you know it's a serious one," Smith said. "But we also are happy that we have a lead as to where they are, who are the six, who are the seven. based on their markings as well."
Though vandalism of public property is a serious offense, police leadership acknowledged that the graffiti has unexpectedly given detectives valuable intelligence. Officers are now trying to identify who created the markings and locate where each faction operates within the country.
Senior police officials said that understanding these territorial symbols will enable a more focused, data-driven strategy for combating gang violence and dismantling criminal networks.
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