The Premier this morning said that he and the Governor are working “closer than ever” when it comes to policing the Island.

Ewart Brown and Sir Richard Gozney held a joint press conference at Government House to address the latest shooting on the Island, which happened nine days ago while both men were in London at the Overseas Territories Consultative Council meeting. Thirty-year-old Kumi Harford was gunned down at 5 a.m. in Pembroke.

The press conference came after two statements released last week appeared to give mixed messages.

The first, from both men, stated they were working well together. In the second, released within an hour of the first, Dr. Brown repeated his demand for control over the Police and said he was “pleading” with Government House to establish new policing strategies.

This morning when asked about the conflicting statements Dr. Brown said: “We are closer in terms of working in unison than we have ever been.”

He added that while the Government’s stance on operational control over policing remained the same, both Government and Governor were working well together well.

He also said the apparent conflict between the two statements released last week came down to timing, saying his personal statement had been drafted before the joint statement.

* For the full story read tomorrow’s Royal Gazette.