Barbados Addresses Escalating Crime Wave: Insights from National Leaders and Private Sector

While Barbadians are scratching their heads trying to uncover the reason behind the spate of shootings and murders the island has experienced in the past three months, the effects of what could easily be described as a crisis, are showing up in other ways.

Opposition Leader Ralph Thorne has announced his national commission on crime which will be headed by attorney-at-law Verla DePeiza; Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley requested all Barbadians to stop everything for a national pause for prayer; Attorney General Dale Marshall has announced another amendment to the Bail Act to make it harder for murder accused and those charged with gun crimes to get bail, while the Barbados Private Sector Association (BPSA) chairwoman and business executive Trisha Tannis, said the private sector wants a united plan to address the issue of societal violence.

Outlining the private sector’s worry, Mrs Tannis said recently the business community “joins our voice to the national concern about the escalation of violence in Barbados, most notably gun violence and calls for an immediate reversal of this alarming developing trend”.

It is fair to assess that when such respected voices in the business community publicly articulate their alarm in such a strident way to a social issue, there is a recognition that the situation is not going in the right direction.

The BPSA’s suggestions make sense. The body wants a focus on preventative measures, that target homes, schools and churches aimed at preventing young men in particular from falling prey to criminality.

Furthermore, Tannis says the private sector wants a comprehensive understanding of what was motivating the current spate of serious crimes, as well as the development of a non-partisan rescue plan to engage the youth in a meaningful way.

The Opposition, in creating its commission on crime, has acknowledged that the issue of escalating crime is a complex one, and frankly, it has no elixir to prescribe.

“Since we concede that we don’t have the answers, we don’t have all of the answers. . . . It is important to speak to the ordinary citizens of this country. Who is feeling the effects of crime? Who is hearing the gunshots? Whose children are dying from the gunshots?” Thorne told Barbadians.

On the other hand, Prime Minister Mottley outlined a tougher approach with the planned establishment of an Organised Crime Unit within the Barbados Police Service, while the legislators move again to modify the Bail Act.

“People must come to work every day to ensure that this is wrestled down and that this country is not held to ransom by people who want to act in a way that is inimical to people’s liberty and safety and property,” she told the country earlier this month.

Even as the various sectors in our community seek to develop solutions, it is instructive that members of the medical profession highlighted the broader impact of gun crimes.

It started with the revelation from Minister of Health Dr Jerome Walcott, that among the “abandoned” patients at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) were paralysed gun victims, whose families say they do not have the resources at home needed to care for a severely crippled individual.

This would surely have been a shock to many Barbadians, who would have been aware of the despicable practice of families ditching elderly at the QEH, even in cases where the elderly own homes.

The other manifestation of the gun crime problem has been highlighted by Dr Lynda Williams, president of the Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners (BAMP).

She cautioned that the number of gunshot victims could result in a redirection of scarce resources from other medical priorities, including mental health resources.

One of the things that has been recognised by public health authorities is that gun violence is becoming one of the leading [causes of] death. . . among men in our region. So not only does it affect men predominantly, but it has lots of repercussions from a health perspective,” Dr Williams articulated.

With wait times at Accident & Emergency already long, she warned that the arrival of one or two gunshot victims, radically changes the situation.

“[The] availability of personnel, staff; everything has to go to the most urgent situation. It affects, from that point of view, the general resources of the hospital,” the BAMP president stressed.

From every direction, the gun crimes are stressing every sector and requires urgent and comprehensive responses.