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Rising Crime + Tourism = Bad News

62 year old Diane Davies the day after her alleged attack

When one of the leading daily newspapers in the UK run a story penned by a leading journalist, it translates to ‘widely read’. When the story is about a 62 year old who claims she was raped in Barbados while on vacation, it translates into bad news for Barbados. Right at the start of the main tourist season to boot, this does us absolutely no favours at all if the allegations are correct; if true Barbados is seriously at fault.

Barbadians are left to wonder this morning what the hell is going on? Why are we playing boo peep with our number one foreign exchange earner? Why have the authorities i.e. Attorney General, Barbados Police Force and by extension the government not given this matter the attention it merits? Why do we allow bureaucracy and officialdom  perhaps pride to ferment this matter?

BU has blogged too many times about the need to revamp our court system to ensure justice is seen to be done and also for the Police Complaints Authority to do its damn job. How can we be serious about tourism and continue to retreat behind statistics. Barbadians on the ground know that serious crime is trending upwards and to be honest the business as usual approach by the authorities is not cutting it.

188 responses to “Rising Crime + Tourism = Bad News”

  1. islandgal246 Avatar
    islandgal246

    Sayed you are exhibiting the typical defensive behaviour when criticized. The BDF needs to examine the criticisms leveled at them and see where they need to change their way of doing business. With the first rape, the actress stated how the callous the BPF treated her, wouldn’t that send warning bells for them to examine how they go about investigating crimes like these? No ….the chief comes out publicly saying that they had done their investigations and that they have charged the perpetrator. You THINK they looked at the treatment of victims of these crimes? Now the next victim Mrs Davies who felt she was treated too in an abominable manner by the BPF, has come out to voice her feelings publicly in a manner she knows full well would make Barbados sit up and listen. Obviously her previous complaint to the Police authorities had gone unanswered because of their the lack of efficiency.

    If Barbados wants to remain viable in the Tourism market there must be a drastic change of attitudes for the better across the board. I am not saying all the BPF are guilty, but two rape victims with similar stories can’t be ignored.

    It is clear that the trainers who train the BPF have missed a vital area of training and that needs to be rectified ASAP. Perhaps the present trainers are not equipped to train and more qualified trainers need to be recruited. But this should be a lesson for the BPF to wake up and examine themselves and do something about it in a positive way.

  2. islandgal246 Avatar
    islandgal246

    Correction the BPF not the BDF

  3. ac Avatar
    ac

    Amused isn’t there according to law DUE PROCESS! Innocent until Proven guilty! Facts! I am amused that one who is versed in the law would so easily forget those terms. The other bloggers well they are excused!
    If i can asked where are the verifiable facts or evidence for or against the police Officer handling the incident and please don’t tell me about past incidents or encounters or hearsay as you should know those are not allowed as evidence in the court

  4. islandgal246 Avatar
    islandgal246

    AC…What has Due Process to do with this incident. Mrs Davies was just saying how she was treated by the Barbados Police. She has not brought legal action against the Police Force, so you are talking allotta garbage and not making any sense at all. You like you watching too much TV .

  5. Amused Avatar
    Amused

    @ac. Clearly “due process” is an excuse……a thing to hide behind. Otherwise, please explain why there has been no effort at all to commence “due process” in over a year?

    Why the hell should the lady put up with the clear stalling that is going on? By the same token, why the hell should we, who are paying the wages of the people stalling, put up with it? I will tell you the answer. It is because politically we are between the devil and the deep blue sea and, until integrity legislation is put in place, those whom we pay to ruin our lives and main industry are going to go their own sweet way until they have milked the country dry, ruined every one of our public institutions and are living in retirement on our money is Florida, leaving us with a monumental mess to clean up. Well, I am saying that we start the clean up NOW. We treat it like chemotherapy – it makes the patient feel much sicker, but it can effect a complete cure. So let us reveal every little bit of injustice, graft and corruption that we encounter on this blog and kill of the cancer that has infected our country. We may be sick for a while, but the alternative is death.

  6. bajan Avatar
    bajan

    I smell the same vultures, like in the Myrie case. They attempt to do barbados down to scoop up the little tourism there is left in the region. The good news is – its coming down every where so there’s no point. Check the OWS website, occupy wall st. People are protesting all over the world on ALL the issues and you all are arguing over what?
    PETTY ISLAND POLITICS.
    Just like in england there are people that like too much talking,especially about other people business and when things get too hot in the kitchen they quietly duck out. The people that start such issues, like wars. There are enough wars on the planet and everyone is beginning to realise who start them – wise up!

    You can look at inefficiency across the caribbean region if you want to go there, so i can give you some kick ass facts, as a matter of fact since this is a online paper -you all can look it up yourselves. Plus there is a non-national element that is causing trouble everywhere, so bajans be vigilent day and night, its time to get busy. I don,t think any other island has a right to say anything about crime and how its dealt with – IT ALL NEEDS TO BE DEALT WITH, EVERYWHERE!

  7. David Avatar
    David

    At the mention of ‘due process’ Anderson Bowen comes to mind.

  8. ac Avatar
    ac

    island gal i think you should stick to what you do best that is keepin the tourist away.it tour right to do so as it is evident that you hhave no basic knoweldge of law even though you are swift to condem

  9. Seeker Avatar
    Seeker

    @ AC

    Ok, ok, since you want to hedge behind “law”…

    If Mrs. Davies were to seek legal recourse…

    1. Does she have enough money for a lawyer to do so…in London OR in Bim?

    2. Are you aware of how the legal system works here? SLOW AS SNAILS! Or are you burying your head in the sand about that too?

    3. By the time the “law” finally gets to her, she would have been so irate and traumatized that she wouldn’t want to continue anyways….

    Oh wait…

    Is THAT why you’d want her to go the legal route? If you were in her shoes, that is?

    Look, we messed up. Big time. The rapist, the police, the High Commissioner’s Office…everybody mentioned here has treated her badly. We don’t have the right to “argue wrong & strong” here. We simply have to pull our bootstraps up…and it starts at home, how we treat each other. If Bajans were to treat each other well, it would naturally spill over into our attitudes with the tourists, and they would be treated well.

    Straight.

  10. Amused Avatar
    Amused

    @Straight. I am assuming that you are not a lawyer. Yet you have correctly identified the legal problem that ac has missed, while accusing Islandgal, with no grounds whatsoever, of not being a lawyer – how do you know, ac, what Islandgal is, except an extremely intelligent and patriotic woman. An action in this case would have to be brought in Barbados under Barbados law and what passes for the Barbdos courts. Mrs Davies would be 82 years old and have spent a fortune, before it would be over.

  11. ac Avatar
    ac

    So for futher reference let,s throw the law out and make judgements upon our emotion. the fact is that no one here knows for sure what is the truth. hiowever there are those amongst us who should know better has taken word for word to villfy the police force and to jeopordise the future of our tourism industry no facts no proof no evidence

  12. islandgal246 Avatar
    islandgal246

    AC ….FYI….I have always encouraged visitors to visit my island Barbados and many have taken up that offer via my blog. I get many asking to visit my gardens when they are on island. I am doing my part. What have you done to date? I have a blogger friend from Australia who has never been to the Caribbean and will be visiting here in January and February. She will be spending 6 weeks here. So please stop flapping your gums.

  13. millertheanunnaki Avatar
    millertheanunnaki

    @ ac | November 29, 2011 at 1:46 PM |

    Would you concede that the judicial (legal) system in Barbados leaves too much to be desire? Or maybe it’s a case of too many cooks (over 700 lawyers, and some armchair ones too) spoiling the socio-economic broth.
    Or do you see this fraternity to which you are affiliated as above reproach?

  14. millertheanunnaki Avatar
    millertheanunnaki

    @ islandgal246 | November 29, 2011 at 1:57 PM |
    ac needs to very careful when he or she accuses those bloggers of truth and justice as not having the interests of Barbados at heart. Far from that being the case! It is by our own private actions that we do yeoman service in promoting Bim, inviting, accommodating and generally facilitating many visitors (many with no Bajan ties) to the Island to spend foreign money and take away a good image of the country. These un-publicised and unsung actions on our part might go unnoticed by the authorities but are done out of genuine love of the country and we will continue to be unofficial ambassadors both here and abroad.

    So ac, leave the likes of islandgirl alone when it come to false accusations of trying to tear down Barbados in the eyes of the wider world.

    PS: Gardening is the best hobby to engage in! Did you, like me, manage to get a second bearing of mangoes for this year?

  15. islandgal246 Avatar
    islandgal246

    Thank you MillerA

    I have just started tasting my second crop of mangoes, they are coming in a little too soon for me. I wanted to have them at Christmas time for family and friends.

    AC…would you like some sweet mangoes? And don’t play great and hard to get now!

  16. millertheanunnaki Avatar
    millertheanunnaki

    @ islandgal246 | November 29, 2011 at 2:35 PM |

    You might just have to squeeze them and freeze the pulp for future consumption. Not as nice as “fresh from the tree” but can be a real treat for breakfast or can be served with a little ice cream. (Might have to go into the garden to burn off those extra calories!)

  17. Caswell Franklyn Avatar
    Caswell Franklyn

    Miller

    You missed an “r” in your comment at 2:04: it is not too many cooks.

    Would you concede that the judicial (legal) system in Barbados leaves too much to be desire? Or maybe it’s a case of too many cooks (over 700 lawyers, and some armchair ones too) spoiling the socio-economic broth.

    Now read it with the “r”: it makes more sense.

  18. millertheanunnaki Avatar
    millertheanunnaki

    @ Caswell Franklyn | November 29, 2011 at 3:01 PM |

    Heavy! But there is plenty evidence to support the contention that c(r)ooks have existed in kitchen and like the sly mongoose stole many a big fat chicken from poor people.

  19. S.A Avatar
    S.A

    Concerning reliability of the RBPF and certain crimes, I have experienced my very own “horror scenario”. From my point of view, the RBPF’s ignorance is unbelievable (that’s how I think about it).

    I tried to contact them for many times, in order to report, request help, etc. Just to get a reply took some months (considering the quite large number of different reported cases, makes this even more unbelievable in my eyes).

    I sent a mail about it…

  20. Yardbroom Avatar
    Yardbroom

    We do no service to our beloved country if we seek to hide behind “blind” patriotism to defend it. If it is that this lady was telling untruths the Barbados authorities would have been forthright with a rebuttal of her story given the gravity of it, to my knowledge this has not happened.

    If we leave the tourism aspect of this regrettable incident aside, there should be enough human compassion in us to know of the wrong here and we do not have to be Barbadians to see that.

    That some of us should seek to hide under camouflage, whilst denying any credence to what has happened, only gives ammunition to the belief held by some beyond our shores, that such an incident as described is possible in the environment we inhabit, because of the casual regard we have for an alleged offence which in some jurisdictions is very high on the serious offences thresthold and is treated as such.

  21. millertheanunnaki Avatar
    millertheanunnaki

    Yardbroom | November 29, 2011 at 4:01 PM |

    @ “ac”:
    Please take note of Yardbroom’s advice! If not, you would be considered as having been swept straight into the basket of bigotry, hypocrisy and xenophobia.

  22. ac Avatar
    ac

    we can.t unite as a country when all we do is cast fear distrust and anger among each other we must all work to gether to protect wha.s is tne best interst of the country trying our darnest to weed out that which is corrupt while at the same time be leery of those who wish us harm . island girl i love gardening do have a mangoe tree .thanks sis.

  23. islandgal246 Avatar
    islandgal246

    AC…..Are any mangoes on it? I am here eating a sweet pa Louis mango, (I have eaten three so far). LOLLL

  24. Seeker Avatar
    Seeker

    @ ac

    Now THAT statement I can agree with!

    @Amused…I don’t believe that I’ve accused islandgirl of now knowing law…my previous post didn’t mention her at all..it was solely directed at ac at the time. I am not a lawyer, but I do see the legal system and how it is processed.

    But I can agree with ac when he says this…

    “we can.t unite as a country when all we do is cast fear distrust and anger among each other we must all work to gether to protect wha.s is tne best interst of the country.”

  25. islandgal246 Avatar
    islandgal246

    Seeker sweetie pie…please reread Amuse’s post, like you he was referring to AC.

  26. Seeker Avatar
    Seeker

    @ islandgirl….ahhhh, ok now I see!

    Might need some of your mangoes…and some carrots too!

    BRB….

  27. islandgal246 Avatar
    islandgal246

    I can spare a few mangoes but carrots nah. I am trying some different coloured carrots, these are the original carrots before they bred them all orange. They are still small after three months going on four . I want to try them again but in a different location in the garden.

    MillerA…Gardens are a joy to create, everyone needs a sanctuary at home where they can go and enjoy quiet times with the creator and share good times with friends.

  28. ac Avatar
    ac

    miller never once did i attack the truth of the story for within the story lies in itself its strengths and its weakness. However i did in general indicate that a story whether it be that or anyone else would need verifiable facts from which one can decided truth or false, but then again with so much animosity leveled against the police force whatever i said was interrupted as being unjustified and unreasonable on my part towards the story while giving the benefit of the doubt to the RBPF and that was far from the truth. My only intent was to stop whatever damage that have occurred by this story and my only interest was that of Barbados and its integrity. Like i said before we as a people can disagree without being disagreeable but first we must listen and not jump to hasty conclusion for in the long run it would only keep us miles apart, BTW i shall close this chapter on this story knowing full well love of my country and its people first.

  29. millertheanunnaki Avatar
    millertheanunnaki

    @ ac | November 29, 2011 at 5:47 PM |
    I support you on your closing note!
    Entente cordiale, mon ami!

  30. Sayed Avatar
    Sayed

    Wow, no due process… last I checked, the culprit is awaiting trial. Why are you not so passionate about keeping criminals locked up and taking away their due process?

    Why are you not so passionate about the many criminals behind bars awaiting trial for more than one year? I’d take a one year wait for any justice decision any day, over the average.

    I bet the guy who allegedly raped her was on bail, or probably been convicted of similar offenses or probably numerous other offences, but was still no the street.

    In the end I am glad we don’t have people like you in charge, because you would pass judgement based on emotions and not facts. She looks innocent, sounds innocent so therefore she must be telling the truth. Cuh dear…

    This is why you will get no official response from the Gov’t because nothing ever satisfies your kind.

  31. Sayed Avatar
    Sayed

    Seems as though she sold this story to People newspaper in March this year, and it has now been on-sold to the Daily Mail. http://www.cash4yourstory.co.uk/raped-horror-abroad-the-people-newspaper-exclusive-crime-story-march-2011-story1126.html

    if that doesnt say it all, don’t know what will. It’s a sensational piece! She sounds like all the other brits who come here and claim their stuff was stolen from the safe in the hotel room which is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, don’t mind they are staying at regency cove and coconut court, but they have rolex watches.

    Oh yeah baby insurance is ma friend! Wonder how much money she got for that. I’d buy it for a dollar.

  32. bajan Avatar
    bajan

    If her story is true, the authorities would dither and scrape their knuckles because apparently just like in the Myrie case which is still up in the air – nothing happens. These things have a horrible way of resurficing when you least expect it or want it. Its always best to squash all non-sense OR to get behind the headlines with some privtate investigating and check it out.
    England is known for its crime but it doesn’t stop people coming for the festivities and sites EH! This case like all the others all over the other islands is a disgrace, the whole region needs cleaning up. SIMPLE

  33. T. J Avatar
    T. J

    I am so sorry what happened to this lady. The RBPF needs some ‘people training’ and be more sensitive to victims of crime and not looking at them as some statistic….

    I remember when the other British lady got raped some years ago. Her comments about how RBPF treated her were exactly the same as this ladys’.

  34. miche Avatar
    miche

    I don’t trust Tourist (American especially) Some of them are dishonest and looking for a way to get a free vacation out of some unsuspecting country.Countries who would rather be blackmailed into silence, rather that fully investigate their wicked deed,,It is always “”my room was broken into,my cash was stolen,jewelry,(Which they never had)missing,Credit cards stolen ,I was harassed, ,When all that happened was that they were greeted with a “Good morning”.something quite new to them, These Get rich ploys must be investigated and a tourist convicted….when will we learn…It is not our fault. And why does these stories only appear when persons are planning their vacation?? And lets tell the truth,,,Which Barbadian male would RAPE the Woman in this Story?

  35. Harry callihan Avatar
    Harry callihan

    https://plus.google.com/photos/114533371993575632880/albums/5786683450215259233
    you Negroes in barbados would have sex with anything that breathes or sometimes not.so she punched herself,funk off .here is the reality.

  36. Rapists, Commissioner Darwin Dottin and the Integrity of the Evidence | Barbados Underground

    […] on November 27, 2011 by David | 185 Comments | […]

  37. Al Weldon Avatar
    Al Weldon

    http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4659686/Rape-victims-fighting-to-clear-suspects-name.html

  38. Kammie Holder Avatar
    Kammie Holder

    (Trinidad Guardian) Eight-five per cent of the murders in T&T are gun-related, according to figures from the T&T Police Service (TTPS).

    There were 420 murders in 2015, 403 murders in 2014, 407 murders in 2013, 379 murders in 2012, and 352 murders in 2011 out of a population of approximately 1.3 million people. The detection rate for murder was 13.6 per cent for 2015, a decrease from 16.1 per cent in 2014, according to records from the TTPS.

    And despite the seizure of 691 firearms in 2015, the proliferation of illegal guns continues to fuel the drug trade, gang wars and killings in this country.

    Two members of the Protective Services were killed on Tuesday—29-year-old Special Reserve Police Constable Jason Cyril John was shot while heading to his Five Rivers, Arouca, home, and Defence Force Corporal Jerry Leacock was shot and killed by four men who entered his Jacob Hill, Wallerfield, home.

    On Thursday, Sgt Ricardo Morris, who works at the Belmont Police Station, was shot multiple times in Sea Lots with a high-powered AR-15 rifle. Meanwhile, security forces were placed on a heightened state of alertness on Tuesday following alleged threats to attack malls by Isis this weekend.

    According to security experts, guns and ammunition smuggled from the South Western peninsula is not a recent phenomenon. T&T’s porous borders coupled with the economic crisis in neighbouring Venezuela further exacerbate the situation for arms and drug smuggling.

    The fear is that with the grave shortage of food and other supplies in Venezuela one could expect guns being exchanged for food and supplies on a larger scale. When the Sunday Guardian visited the peninsula a week ago, people in the area were tight-lipped about smuggling. Critics said the US$50 million in food that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro will buy from T&T was likely to last only a few weeks among a population of 30 million people, and that desperation could step in and further fuel the gun trade.

    Several security experts, former executive director of the National Operations Centre (NOC) Garvin Heerah, Florida International University Prof Anthony Maingot, firearms weapon specialist Paul-Daniel Nahous and President of the Confederation of Hunters’ Associations for Conservation of T&T (Chactt), Buddie Miller, are concerned that with the current economic, political and social turmoil in Venezuela, the food for guns trade between T&T and the mainland may escalate and portions of the Guardia Nacional’s stockpile of high-powered Chinese AK-47s, Russian AK-103 assault rifles and Dragunov sniper rifles can reach T&T’s criminal elements.

    Heerah noted, however, that guns were not only coming from Venezuela and Latin America but also North America.

    In an email communication with the Sunday Guardian on Thursday, Caribbean and South American security expert Prof Maingot, who is based at Florida International University in Miami, USA, said the former Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez regime distributed tens of thousands of Chinese AK-47 assault rifles to their partisans “and much of this was now for sale by the Guardia Nacional which had been thoroughly corrupted.”

    He said as far back as 1972, “I did a study on the T&T-Venezuela relations in the Orinoco area and I was convinced that smuggling was a major and historical part of their lifestyle.

    “It was only a matter of time before scotch gave way to marijuana then to cocaine.

    “In the drug trade, guns are a major part of the exchange for the simple reason that they cannot be counterfeited.”

    Maingot said although most of the large-scale cocaine trafficking was now done by small planes and luxury yachts, there is still much guns-for-cocaine trade occurring in the areas of Cedros and Icacos and the islands of the Bocas.

    He said the Gulf of Paria had become one big drugs/guns mart.

    ‘Soldiers selling their weapons for money’
    Certified police sniper and firearms weapon specialist Paul-Daniel Nahous, meanwhile, said what was occurring in Venezuela is similar to what happened to the former Soviet Union when it dissolved and former states such as Ukraine broke away in 1991.

    Some of the former Soviet Union weapons were sold off legally, but many slipped through the cracks and onto the black market. Some military commanders sold off entire military installations and poorly paid soldiers “lost” their weapons selling them also.

    In 2006 Venezuela bought 100,000 Russian AK-103 rifles, 5,000 Dragunov sniper rifles and the manufacturing licence and equipment for domestic production. Nahous said Chavez, a former paratrooper, chose the AK-103 assault rifle which fires the heavier 7.62×39 calibre ammunition with a range of 500 metres because of its stopping power.

    The Dragunov sniper rifle uses 7.62×54 ammunition, is extremely reliable in all conditions, from snow to heat and sand in the Middle Eastern desert and designed for heavy use. The maximum range of the Dragunov semiautomatic rifle with an optical sight is 1,300 metres. He said the scary part was getting a fully automatic rifle for a few loaves of bread and some packs of toilet paper.

    Nahous said the danger that these rifles posed was that the gangs here would know how to operate them, as the mechanics were similar to the Kalashnikov rifle variants in the country. He said the ammunition for the AK-103 was available and also the same as that of the AK-47s flooding the gang areas in T&T.

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