What About Crime Stupid II – Rest in Peace, Live in Peace

Submitted by Kammie Holder

I am sad and why I am sad for the nut man has been killed by the gun of yet another thug. This is a young man who I have known for over 40 years, hard-working, a family man who was very ambitious and toiled everyday to provide bread for his two kids.

What is more disheartening is that the gun is killing more than Covid and the authorities seem totally incapable of disinfecting our society of these callous thugs. Sometimes the end must justify the means, and sometimes we must temporarily give up our freedoms for the greater good of our society.

Bigger guns for law enforcement and harsher penalties will not deter a mindless thug who has no value for life from taking the life of another. These thugs need to be flushed out of every nook and cranny, for the casual callousness and bravado exhibited is worrying.

May I suggest, better usage of the eavesdropping technology to detect the source of these guns rather than tapping the phones of harmless mouth giants makes better sense. Are we seeing a failure in some specific area of intelligence gathering that needs plugging for we do not manufacture guns in Barbados. Why do we have to always wait until it really hits home to get real action on crime.

Common sense tells me our crime fighting measures are failing and needs new brains on board, innovative strategies, public consultations and ideas from public. The police may think they have a noosphere of knowledge on crime fighting but non of us are equipped with a catholicon for crime.

 

The time is right for community policing to embrace a volunteer force similar to the US and UK model where persons up to age 60 are trained and work alongside regular police officers. Perhaps, some will arrogantly as usual knock another idea without further exploration. We are not talking about the ill treated, disrespected special constable arm, we are speaking to a properly equipped new unit with its own chief.

Covid mitigation measures perhaps will cost us more than a well established auxiliary police force. Can we ignore or quantify the cost of not acting? Decreased investor confidence, travel advisories, increased healthcare, increased critical care cost and decrease tourist arrival will all lead to less FX for Remy hair and Hennessey imports.

Crime is everybody’s problem and who better to engage to help mitigate spiralling crime other than well vetted citizens among the masses.

Rest In Peace Randy, will be the retort of many but we must also Live In Peace.

93 thoughts on “What About Crime Stupid II – Rest in Peace, Live in Peace


  1. The trending of crime in Barbados like many other countries exposes what we do not want to admit. We are clueless how to arrest the problem and or have surrendered the will to defend/attack against the dark forces in society.


  2. what more is there to say? we have trashed out this issue on numerous occasions. it is now left up to the Crime Consultant, the AG and big brains in the BLP to solve. they could always leaf through the various pages here on the topic to assist them


  3. @ Kammie Holder

    Surely the communities in which the victims and perpetrators of crime live know who the criminals are? Should the solving of crimes not be that of the whole society rather than politicians,criminologists and police? If and when the police arrest and charge suspects ,what happens there after? The eradication of crime is OUR business. A consolidated effort is needed. Time for these hollow cries to end. Time for action.


  4. @avid September 26, 2020 5:34 AM “We are clueless”

    Wha’ ya mean clueless David?

    We know very well the solution to the crime problem.

    It is guns and drugs and money.

    And the civil servants, including customs officers, policemen, coast guardsmen; and our political class; and our parasitical business class who all want to retire as billionaires at 40, and who are ALL supported by the TAX PAYING CITIZENS of this country who continually BETRAY us.

    We need to pop of the balls of ALL of them. And “yes” it is the people who own balls who are the biggest traitors to the rest of us Barbadians.

    Stupssseee!!!


  5. It doesn’t require any big brians.

    All it requires is that the people who are PAID by the tax payers of Barbados, do the work that WE PAY THEM TO DO.

    We too like a lotta long talk.

    And no action.

    Acting like dem impotent, while the criminals bull us without Vaseline.


  6. @ Greene

    I think one jester in the Household of BU is enough. All the big brains you have mentioned are on the job. I myself have leafed through the suggestions on BU and they are the same old platitudes we hear on every topic. They sound good but they do not say a pang.


  7. @VC

    this is not a new matter. crime especially gun related murders etc have been with us for a while. by now we should have formulated some plan, some method to go about dealing with it. that we havent is a condemnation of all of us, mostly those who are in charge. it is those from whom the action will flow. no more time for long talk time for action but alas…

    nevertheless i am sure there were some practical solutions tabled here. doesnt mean that they have to be adopted wholesale but they can be tailored as the authorities see fit


    • Shouldn’t we acknowledge that gun violence is on the rise everywhere? That said we should be able to do a better job given ours is characterized as a personable society. The blogmaster took note the AG in his address last weekend at the SGN meeting took the opportunity to ask the public to share information. In the prevailing environment this is easier said than done.


  8. @Vincent Codrington, the point of my article is engaging these same communities. Distrust will not be an issue if the boots on the ground are from the said community. Its about rewriting the community policing rule book put cat among cats to control cats.

    Mitigation has to take a greater precedent over risk management of crime, no 16 year old just wakes up a gun and decides to rob and kill over night.

    An auxiliary force that focuses on social intervention such as lessons for kids, identifying vulnerable kids, mentoring, identify bright sparks, gather intelligence of potential criminal activities, liaison with regular force on behalf of citizens and focus on conflict resolution projects.

    The RBPF needs all the help it can get for its getting more dangerous as the country is getting flooded with illegal firearms and the situation in Venezuela does not help. We all need to play out part for we do not know who is next.

    Corporate support would be essential.


  9. the problem analysis triangle (PAT) is a good way to visualise crime. the triangle consists of an offender, a victim, and a location. take away any of those and there will be no crime.

    but it is not as easy as that. involved somewhere in there is the why. why would a person at a certain location become a crime stat., or put another way, why would an offender go to a certain place and commit a crime.

    in our present scenario, why would an offender ruck up to particular location and start shooting indiscriminately at group of young men hanging out?

    the answer- drugs, gangs, locations where drugs and gangs have become a way of life, squabbles over turf, the accessibility of guns, persons to carry out killings, persons to kill, and most of all, the socio economic milieu in which all this incubates

    after one or two targetted killings most of the other killings become reprisals and then there is no rhyme or rhythm as to why one becomes a victim in a given location.

    but enough of the theoretical nonsense, it is time for action.


  10. Interesting piece that hit many of the regularly played notes.

    Still trying to figure out the relevance of NY crime statistics to the local situation.


  11. Gun violence should be considered a public health issue not a political one an epidemic that needs to be addressed with research and evidence-based strategies that can reduce morbidity and mortality. Gun violence affects people of all ages and races. Doctors and nurses care for victims of gun violence and their families every day. These doctors and nurses who witness the substantial impact firearm related violence has on the health of their patients, families, and communities, have the power to help improve the safety and wellbeing of those groups.

    The complexity and frequency of firearm violence combined with its impact on the health and safety of Bajans suggest that a public health approach should be a key strategy used to prevent future harm and injuries. Maybe focus scientific methodology to identify risk and patterns, preventive measures, and multidisciplinary collaboration.

    The criminal dynamics on the streets of Barbados has changed they are will to use guns.


  12. David-

    allow me to repost-

    Social theorists in Barbados would or should be chomping at the bit to link social disorder with low cost housing or try to interrogate whether there is a correlation. For the purposes of this submission social disorder relates to gun related murders that are currently visiting Barbados.

    The sale of illegal drugs and the gang culture that is constructed around it seems to be incubator of the gun violence and with drugs come firearms

    Gun related murders seem to take place or have a genesis in such areas as the Pine Housing area, Gall Hill / Silver Hill, Ch Ch, and Haynesville St James. Nevertheless many killings have been perpetrated in the rural areas of St Philip and St Lucy. This may or may not reflect a gang rivalry as one of the so called drug lords is said to have a base in St Philip and the same goes for St Lucy where another well known one resides. So, there seems to be a link between gun crime, gangs, subsidized housing or at least depressed housing areas apart from Government sponsored blocks or ghettos as they are commonly called, where drugs and gangs have become rife

    In 1942 Shaw and McKay took into account the socioeconomic characteristics of a neighborhood, the physical construction of the housing, family dynamics and delinquency among youth, and came up with a theory called social disorganization, which led to a breakdown in social order and crime. So, it is nothing new.

    gang and gun related murders have plagued low cost housing areas in the rest of the Caribbean, the USA (Chicago and NY) and the UK. Although this appears to be worldwide (Cukier and Sidel, 2006: 12-18), it is devastating to communities because of the loss of lives, particularly among young men and the consequences are more intensified in small place like Barbados.

    Montoute and Anyanwa (2009:1) said that as a society transitions through its various stages, a social phenomenon is crime. They went on to say that that crime especially by young people may reflect their struggle against their social status. Comparing this with what is happening in Bim specifically in these depressed housing areas, that seems to have an element of truth. If one is to further compare the Ferniehurst lower middle income housing area in Black Rock and others of that socioeconomic nature, one would see that they do not follow the same crime related trends as low cost clustered housing.

    So it seems to me that concentrated low cost housing and its linkage with crime, position crime with class. Lower poorer classes, beleaguered by substandard education, dysfunctional family situation and little prospect of meaningful employment are drawn to the embrace of gangs, which provide a family type safe haven. What emerges is a class differential paradoxically perpetuated by and perpetuating the division between the haves and the have-nots.

    It should be pointed out that there is no crime free society. A “crime free society is an impossible dream. There has always been crime; there will always be crime”, is how Alderson (1979:111) puts it. Nevertheless, most people see crime particularly murders as contrary to societal norms. In addition crime itself is a legal construct and a delimiting device that tries to maintain certain actions within defined boundaries. Whereas white-collar crime is viewed in an almost casual forgiving manner murders and gun related crime are outrightly condemned by society.

    Acknowledging that law enforcement alone is not an all-encompassing solution to crime, Alderson encourages a holistic approach involving, social, victim, offender, economic, and moral considerations. I agree.


    • @Greene

      Thanks for the repost, it confirms the complexity of the problem at hand. One layer of complexity is the one that relates to how working/underclass citizens perceive actors who are positioned north on the social ladder. This is a big consideration to assist with profiling the situation.


  13. Gun violence is not a public health issue. That is the nonsense that came out of Glasgow. Crime is a social policy issue, with many angles as to causation. The theory is specific to Glasgow, and even then it is flawed.
    What is the difference between gun violence, knife violence, domestic violence and smacking someone with a blunt tool? We now have an army of neurologists, criminologists, psychologists, etc now studying crime, in particular violent crime, and its causation, looking at cohort s from birth. Some are even looking at pregnant women in a vain attempt to predict if their children will be violent criminals.
    There are social dimensions to criminality, including violent crime. Age is the key predictor, and most violent crime is committed by people age in their teens and twenties. It is mainly a male, working class, poorly educated, and often people social phenomenon, oft en with people with a poor employment history; they are often single men.
    All crimes have an impact on society, not just gun crime or violent crime generally. We must look at the wider dynamics of all crime causation.
    In the UK there is the myth of so-called county line crimes, an apology for police to stop and search and generally harass young black men (in fact, black men of all ages), while cornering public support, in particular the support of black middle class people.
    Interestingly, the county lines myth also includes such exclamations for the searching of young pre-teen black boys and females as they are often given the drugs to carry because they are unlikely to come under suspicion. Nonsense.
    It is an excuse to search all black people. It is also part of the defeminisation of black women since there is a public view that women should not be jailed, especially mothers, so to jail black women it must be justified on the ground that their behaviour is not that of a typical woman. Magistrates and judges hide behind this racist myth. We already have the Clinton/Biden concepts of crime, and in particular black male crime; and the rise of the warrior police (see Radley Balko work on this subject).
    I order to justify the massive police budgets, the increasing staff (Boris Johnson and Priti Patel promised in their 2019 Manifesto to increase police numbers by 20000) there must be a justification; if there are no criminals, we must make them.
    All over the world the crime rate is falling; even in the US, with four per cent of the global population and 25 per cent of people incarcerated (more than China), the numbers are falling.
    What is sad is when black people themselves, posing as lawyers and criminologists, magistrates and judges, punish their brothers and sisters because they do not behave like them.


  14. The comparison to Covid was “excellent”. Just shows WE can do, WE merely have to “want to”.
    The continued failure to ban guns, and enforce it, means somebody who is making money off their sale or use, is influencing decisions.
    The same way one can issue edicts for quarantine or masks or gatherings, one can ban hand guns and enforce it


  15. @TheOldgazerts, Black Lives Matter but the local movement are nothing more than copycats while remaining silent as black boys on the blocks kill each other. Not a whimper from the local movement, that`s the significance of the NYPD stats.

    If Denny and his followers want to be taken seriously they need to stop masturbate themselves over an irrelevant metal statue and help to save Black Lives That Matter. I am convinced Denny deliberately on his own volition created a distraction, for many things are no longer apparent.


  16. @ TheO Gazerts at 9:09 AM

    I had the same reaction. Using data mining ,they suggest that regardless of the racial composition of the population, the black man gets top ratings. I am sure that was not the intention of the poster. Lol!!


  17. 😀😀TheOldgazerts 😀😀
    I was about to agree with some elements of your post, but the name calling stopped me.

    More seriously, the emphasis on community participation and use of eavesdropping technology directed towards criminals are two practical steps.


  18. @Hal, 9:46 a.m.
    In my opinion, one of the times you are punching well above your weight.

    Note: If Hal could stop the wild fluctuations in his weight, he would be a terror in that weight class.


  19. Let me reiterate, we cannot solve a social behavioural problem of violence by hiring more police, militarizing police, providing bigger guns, stiffer penalties or longer jail sentences. Its 2020, and the play book is outdated and absolutely irrelevant.
    How do you get a hopeless young man who will kill or be killed because he is fearful and absolutely have no life value. The youth are have no value for life and are not afraid of dying.

    In 2020, you have an indifferent Attorney General and government dominated by men who have not respect for the male species for only the women vote matters.

    Unemployed men thanks to COVID are getting a raw deal where mothers in Barbados are telling them they want money and not groceries. Imagine a man telling me he has to do a little thing before the marshals come for him for child support. Another drug dealer emerges because of a uncaring gynocentic system which encourages women to believe the M in Man is money. The child needs are secondary so money only and not groceries, other essentials from extended family are not accepted. Sad, but happening right here in Barbados.

    Are we serious about crime? How many men will be forced to do a little thing to suuport their kids while the BLP refuses to make Support In Kind part of the Maintenance Act.

    LET ME SHOUT TO THE YARDFOWLS WHO WILL SEEK TO DEFEND NONSENSE” Not all men who are in court to pay maintenance refused to pay and was forced, sometimes its done for spite”

    Crime provides revenue for governments and a business for some corporations, becomes a bother when it gets out of hand.

    Guns are not the problem for plastic forks can be a weapon also and will we then ban them if they become a weapon of choice? Social problems need social intervention not brute force!


  20. I am told it is now a crime in St Lucia to attempt suicide. I am not sure if they will send you to prison if you are successful.


  21. @Hal

    attempted suicide whether in a pact or individually has always been a crime in the Caribbean. however it is treated as a mental / psychological issue nowadays


  22. @Greene

    Really? Every time I think I know the depths of folly there is another hole. Attempting to kill yourself is a heinous crime..? I wonder which mind this came from. Even Europeans got rid of that nonsense years ago.


  23. used to be UK law. i believe participating in suicide is still a crime altho it can be also a defence in certain circumstances. the reason, the taking of a human life except when there was slavery and in war or when state sponsored- hanging etc


  24. SEEMS THAT YOU GUYS ARE LOOKING FOR SOLUTIONS FOR THIS PROBLEM IN THE WRONG PLACE
    SO WHY ARE YOU SURPRISED AT YOUR FAILURE TO FIND A SOLUTION?


  25. @Austin, as the brother above noted a man’s of your intellect and savviness is truly expected to offer some serious commentary ALWAYS … so one can only be deeply amused at the ‘impressive’ roller coast gyrations between outstanding posts and incredible ‘did he say dat’ comments.

    Thus I laughed when I rode down this roller-coaster … “Every time I think I know the depths of folly there is another hole. Attempting to kill yourself is a heinous crime..? I wonder which mind this came from. Even Europeans got rid of that nonsense years ago.”

    According to YOUR own words … Europeans ‘originated’ the “depths of folly” thinking to criminalize suicide and they got wiser and “got rid of that”, not so! 🤣😎

    So why are we West Indians who adopted lots of laws from the Europeans Brits so remarkably foolish and the Euros not. Just asking bro!

    Anyhow, you do offer some solid comments quite often … this was just one of those really strange remarks that defeated my reasoning ability!


  26. @VC, whoever it was that said ‘no truer words were made’ was surely teeing up your remark that “Surely the communities in which the victims and perpetrators of crime live know who the criminals are? Should the solving of crimes not be that of the whole society rather than politicians, criminologists and police?”.

    If and when the police arrest and charge suspects ,what happens there after? The eradication of crime is OUR business. A consolidated effort is needed. Time for these hollow cries to end. Time for action.


  27. this seems like an easy fix to me. Seattle has got it under control with their 150k a year pimp crime czar. What are you saying barbados got no pimps??? The o I think the NY stats are just showing most shootings arent cops.


  28. I am tired of commenting on this topic because the authorities are not interested in dealing with it in my opinion. They have had studies done years ago and they prefer to spend the money on the back end locking up people after the crime is committed. There is no serious attempt at crime prevention.

    Dem mekking mock sport.

    The profile of the problem person is exactly as Hal Austin described and the causes are evident. We need to catch these young boys before they become a problem. And I don’t mean by stop and search and rough policing. These boys and these communities need help. It would be cheaper to give it to them.

    Prevention is better than cure.

    But if these boys are being used by persons high up in society, we can expect that nothing will be done because the lives of poor foolish little black boys don’t matter. They are expendable. What matters is that rich people make more money.

    Barbados is way too small for the authorities not to know who is who.


  29. @Greene
    used to be UK law. i believe participating in suicide is still a crime altho it can be also a defence in certain circumstances.
    +++++++++++
    There are organisations e.g. Dying with Dignity all over the place and laws governing “Assisted suicide” are on the books in many European countries and also in Canada. It is surprising that the law in Britain does not address this matter.


  30. ok… lets try this again…

    @VC, whoever it was that said ‘no truer words were made’ was surely teeing up your remark that “Surely the communities in which the victims and perpetrators of crime live know who the criminals are? Should the solving of crimes not be that of the whole society rather than politicians, criminologists and police?”.

    These debates can start and END right there. Naively I would say that when words like rat or snitch or undercover lose their pejorative connotations we will move to a stage of resolution; but realistically I would add that until the significant monetary benefit is removed from the world of criminal activity then that lexicon will guide our society forever and a day!

    As you ended: “The eradication of crime is OUR business. A consolidated effort is needed.”

    Just as the elimination of political corruption is OUR business… but we clearly have decided to PERPETUATE that, NOT eradicate it… So as corruption = community criminal activity = gun violence .. it simply means, It will NOT end!

    We know this!


  31. Sargeant,
    i meant participating in suicide pacts where someone survived. i maybe wrong but i believe it is still a crime but it is also a defence under certain circumstances. most of these type of crimes are treated as psychological / mental type issues. i believe also the USA have similar laws re attempted suicide and suicide pacts etc altho we have read or seen the issues surrounding Kevorkian and what emanated from that.

    i must be remembered that suicide relevant to sickness or chronic diseases etc is treated differently and delicately also. these are all v complex legal matters and take on a live of their own


  32. For centuries certain classes of people in Barbados have been super citizens.

    They were able to get guns representing an inordinate power over those who could not.

    It was always just a matter of time before these instuments of power, as perceived, were popularly defused.

    Why was there no calls for these legal guns to be withdrawn from the country?

    Why is the discouse always aimed at poor people as though they somehow have any leading role in determining social norms?

    How can we continue to promote gun violence in movies, cinema and elsewhere and expect not to see the affects in popular culture?


  33. DonnaSeptember 26, 2020 11:28 AM Barbados is way too small for the authorities not to know who is who.

    +++++

    Wuh loss, looka Donna playing wid fire deng. She wanna get us in trubble. Listen, I ent know nuhbody, I ent see nuhbody, doan look at me. I frighten fuh wunna.

    When I see a hornet nest, I does steer far clear.


  34. Every few months like clockwork an item appears about crime and every few months like clockwork the BU cognoscenti provides their opinions and every few months some politician gets up and provides his/the Gov’ts take on the subject which is usually about punishment not prevention. When we are in the punishment phase the horse has long escaped the barn.


  35. SargeantSeptember 26, 2020 12:36 PM

    So, a lotta long talk? Well, Donna has gone down a path that needs addressing, the one with the dragon at the end.

    You want resolution, start with that. I gone though. I am scared of dragons.


    • Like Kammie correctly stated, a one dimensional approach of focusing disproportionately on enforcement will not cut it. Weaponizing the police force will not cut it. A militaristic approach will not cut it. We have to help the vulnerable, support parents who are delinquent. Ensure the social service is fit for purpose. Ensure at the school level we identify children who are struggling and an create action plan to deal with it…


  36. Sometimes we travel in circles. I will now use my powers of reasoning and save you a January 2021 post.

    January 3, 2021
    Posted by David.
    The 2029 news cycle and BU were completely dominated by Mia.

    WordPress stated …

    Geez. I have to find a better way to exit.


  37. @Crusoe
    At the SGN farewell for Gline, Dale spoke about the US authorities intercepting 18 high velocity guns that were destined for Barbados. Nuhbody thought to ask if Barbados was the destination who were they addressed to? Is that a State secret? Were they addressed to ‘To whom it may concern”? Somebody somewhere ordered these weapons and somebody somewhere (The Gov’t/Police?) knows a thing or two but we wait until bodies are on the ground to start wailing.

    One of my school teachers used to recite this in class ( yuh can’t say I never picked up anything in school)

    And, oh, what a weeping and wailing,
    As the lost were told of their fate;
    They cried for the rocks and the mountains,
    They prayed, but their prayer was too late.


  38. Left vs right

    Atheist vs theist

    Violent Crime vs no or reduced violent crime.

    Democrat vs Republican.

    It’s all in the mind.


  39. Man, I can drive around Barbados in a couple of hours.

    Nobody really wants to solve this problem.

    They just use it as a campaign issue every five years. Nothing changes after the election except that the murders increase.


  40. Steupse! The diseased mind is at it again. Republicans in the US are the biggest criminals.

    But write your shite if you must. Not even Grenville Phillips would believe that one. He is offering help for the depressed community not militarized police forces killing black
    people without just cause under the law.


  41. We know very well the solution to the crime problem.

    It is guns and drugs and money.

    And the civil servants, including customs officers, policemen, coast guardsmen; and our political class; and our parasitical business class who all want to retire as billionaires at 40, and who are ALL supported by the TAX PAYING CITIZENS of this country who continually BETRAY us.

    We need to pop of the balls of ALL of them. And “yes” it is the people who own balls who are the biggest traitors to the rest of us Barbadians
    Xxxxxxxxxxx

    @Crusoe
    At the SGN farewell for Gline, Dale spoke about the US authorities intercepting 18 high velocity guns that were destined for Barbados. Nuhbody thought to ask if Barbados was the destination who were they addressed to? Is that a State secret? Were they addressed to ‘To whom it may concern”? Somebody somewhere ordered these weapons and somebody somewhere (The Gov’t/Police?) knows a thing or two but we wait until bodies are on the ground to start wailing.

    Xxxxxxxxx

    THERE ARE NUMEROUS POLICE IN BARBADOS WHO ARE PART OF THE GUN TRADE AND WORK WITH KEY STREET FIGURES TO MAKE SERIOUS MONEY ON THE SIDE.

    THEY ARE CUSTOMS OFFICIALS WHO CLEAR CONTAINERS AT BUSINESS PREMISES OR GOODS AT THE PORT KNOWING FULL WELL CONTAINING DRUGS OR GUNS AND SOMETIMES AIDED BY SOME DIRTY CUSTOMS BROKERS ALL PLAYERS EARNING MAJOR KICKBACKS FOR FACILITATING.

    STOP PRETENDING BULLSHIT, THERE IS NO WILL TO BREAK THIS AS THE TRUTH IS THERE IS WAY TOO MUCH EASY BIG MONEY INVOLVED AND MAJOR MAJOR PLAYERS LOCALLY.

    THE FACT THAT 2X3 BARBADOS CANNOT STOP IS BECAUSE THERE IS COLLUSION AT THE TOP WITH KEY BUSINESS PLAYERS AND OTHERS IN THE STREET.

    THE MAYHEM WILL CONTINUE WHILST POOR BADLY EDUCATED BLACKS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE TOTEM POLE WILL CONTINUE TO BE CASUALTIES OF THIS INVISIBLE INNER CITY WARFARE.

    THIS IS THE REALITY ON THE GROUND ALL OTHER IS SHITE TALK.

    THE 5 MAJOR DRUG LORDS INVITED TO PARLIAMENT IN 2018 WERE EMBOLDENED AND THEIR FOOTS SOLDIERS AS THEY NOW HAD MORE ACCESS THAN THEY HAD BEFORE.

    DOES ONE THINK THEY ARE NOW LAW BINDING LOCAL CITIZENS THEY AND THEIR CONSPIRATORS HAVE GOTTEN RICHER AND NOT A FELLOW HAVE BEEN CHARGED OR LOCKED UP WHILST THE BOYS ON THE BLOCK ROB AND KILL GUIDED BY THESE SAME KEY PLAYERS WHO ARE IN THE BOSOM OF THE BLP PARTY WITH NO FEAR OF IMPRISONMENT.

    THEY HAVE THE ATTORNEY GENERAL AND OTHERS BOUGHT AND SOLD LONG TIME.


  42. At the SGN farewell for Gline, Dale spoke about the US authorities intercepting 18 high velocity guns that were destined for Barbados. Nuhbody thought to ask if Barbados was the destination who….(Quote)

    Was this the first time this information was made public? @ Baje, I suspect ALL containers.


  43. @Baje

    General Mia she was referred to, according to Caswell- lol

    to the Hivers and those who pretend to be neutral, i just couldnt help myself there- lol


  44. @Baje

    General Mia she was referred to, according to Caswell- lol

    to the Hivers and those who pretend to be neutral, i just couldnt help myself there- lol

    Xxxxxxxxx

    MIA WAS SEEN ON ELECTION NIGHT MAY 2P18 CELEBRATING WITH AT LEAST 3 OF THE SAME MAJOR DRUG LORDS BEFORE THEY WERE INVITED TO PARLIAMENT.

    MIA KNEW HOW THEY MADE THEIR BIG DOLLARS SOME DONATED TO BLP CAMPAIGN WHILST THEY ALSO GOT PEOPLE OUT TO VOTE IN THEIR STRONG HOLDS.

    MIA IS INDEED A GENERAL IN THEIR WORLD AS THEY KNOW SHE HAS THEIR BACK AND WILL KEEP THEM OUT OF PRISON WHILST BIG BIG MONEY IS SHARED.

    MANY LOCALS ARE SO BRAINWASHED MANY CAN’T SEE THE EMPRESS HAS ON NO CLOTHES.

    SO THEY WILL CONTINUE TO SUFFER WHILST LIVING IN FEAR OF STRAY BULLETS AND MAYHEM.


  45. Correction

    MIA IN A VIDEO ON SOCIAL MEDIA WAS SEEN ON ELECTION NIGHT MAY 2018 CELEBRATING WITH AT LEAST 3 OF THE SAME MAJOR DRUG LORDS BEFORE THEY WERE INVITED TO PARLIAMENT


  46. @Hal Austin September 26, 2020 10:21 AM “I am told it is now a crime in St Lucia to attempt suicide. I am not sure if they will send you to prison if you are successful.”

    Nonsense straight out of Roman Catholic belief.

    Abortion is also a crime there.


  47. On a blog dealing with a pressing crime problem and what do you and others do?

    Xxxxxxxx

    WE EXPOSE REALITY.

    WE ARE NOT PART OF THE PROBLEM ON THE ISLAND OR ARE WE ENGAGED WITH/IN CRIMINALITY ON THE 2X3 ISLAND.

    STEUSPE


  48. @Hal Austin September 26, 2020 10:51 AM. “Attempting to kill yourself is a heinous crime..? I wonder which mind this came from. Even Europeans got rid of that nonsense years ago.”

    What do you mean by “I wonder which mind this came from?” It came directly from the minds of the Europeans who colonised the Caribbean. They are the ones who wrote the laws making attempted suicide, male homosexuality [but not female homosexuality], and the termination of unwanted pregnancies illegal.

    Straight outta Europe.

    I’ve never believed that ending a pregnancy is either illegal or immoral…not once i learned that one of our neighbors attempted to end her unwanted pregnancy, her 4th, by taking rat poison. Sadly, maybe it is a good thing that she did not survive, otherwise her society which holds poor black women in deep, deep contempt would have charged her with attempted suicide and attempted murder.

    Yes stupid laws, straight out of Europe.


  49. @Donna September 26, 2020 11:28 AM “But if these boys are being used by persons high up in society, we can expect that nothing will be done because the lives of poor foolish little black boys don’t matter. They are expendable. What matters is that rich people make more money.”

    Most sensible comment so far.


  50. @Crusoe September 26, 2020 12:43 PM “…the dragon at the end…You want resolution, start with that. I gone though. I am scared of dragons.”

    I am a country girl and I know that if the tail of a lizard is cut off, it will grow a new tail.

    i am wondering, if we cut off the heads of the big shot gun and drug dealers, will they grow new ones?


  51. Donna September 26, 2020 2:51 PM

    Steupse! The diseased mind is at it again. Republicans in the US are the biggest criminals.

    I don’t know Donna.

    i don’t watch much TV.

    But I endured a 2 hour wait at the doctor’s this morning, and the waiting room TV was on BBC.

    And looka what BBC said about Hal’s favorite city, “London is the center of international money laundering”

    if you are a drug or gun dealer, if you are a human trafficker, if you are a terrorist you will need to launder your money, and the banksters in Hal’s favorite city are always willing and ready to help.

    Apparently one of their favorite customers in on the FBI’s ten most wanted list

    And I sat there and thought to myself “nothing much has changed”. Was it not the same London banks which for hundreds of years provided banking services and other comforts to British and other European slave traffickers.

    The same thing now, except it is mostly not slaves, but drugs and guns, and the descendants of slaves are killing each other while the London banksters get richer.

    And fatter.


  52. @Sargeant September 26, 2020 1:10 PM “Dale spoke about the US authorities intercepting 18 high velocity guns that were destined for Barbados. Nuhbody thought to ask if Barbados was the destination who were they addressed to?”

    Is that where my little package went to?


  53. Cuhdear Bajan,

    Heard long ago that London is the money laundering capital. But they love to blacklist us for a few pennies.

    The Dukkaran economist woman is correct that they discriminate against countries on the basis of colour.


  54. The problem with Greene is not with people pretending to be neutral. He has a problem when people identify and call him out on his trick of giving examples of BLP corruption in a weak attempt to prove the DLP isn’t.


  55. Cuhdear BajanSeptember 26, 2020 5:14 PM@i am wondering, if we cut off the heads of the big shot gun and drug dealers, will they grow new ones?
    +++
    The question is, WHO are the ‘big shots’. THAT may be your problem. Plus, how do you stop something that is internationally run?


  56. Overhaul the national consciousness
    The shooting death of Randy Selman, known as “the Nut Man” has resonated with Barbadians because the nation knows him. Not know-know him like how you know a close friend.
    But know him in the sense that many of us saw him regularly, and what we saw we took note of and were impressed by. Condolences to his family and friends who really knew-knew him. And condolences to the families and friends of all those who have lost their lives to gun violence whom the general public may not have known, whose deaths may have gone unnoticed.
    Do you recall the days when a shooting was big news, regardless of who was shot? Now, news of a shooting comes like a report of a burst water main. That may not be such a good analogy because it sometimes feels like we are a bit more concerned about the waste of water than we are about the waste of life.
    Or maybe it is not the waste of water we are concerned about. We don’t seem to mind wasting water as long as our own pipes still have water coming through them. God help those poor souls in the North. God help those poor souls whose lives are directly affected by gun violence. We also don’t seem to mind lives being wasted as long as those lives aren’t those we know-know, or love and we still have workers. In a colonial society like ours, people, citizens, don’t seem to matter so much as workers do.
    Randy Selman was special. He was known as a worker, the kind that we celebrate, an entrepreneur. He was seen to be productive and a fine example of the industriousness we claim to make no wanton boast about. If he was water, he would be the water that was well channelled, not the water flowing wild.
    Killed by the gun
    Many of the other people killed by the gun are seen more like water from a burst main. They only seem to concern the people who they are directly connected to. And further more, the assumption is often that they must have been flowing wild by choice anyhow, so them returning back into the earth is treated as almost natural and tolerated, like the run-off from the rain. But in a water scarce country rainwater not being collected is wasted water too.
    It was reported in the news that Selman began his profession straight out of St George Secondary School at 15 years old. This is another reason Barbados appreciated him, for making the choice not to run wild when so many others in similar situations make different choices. He channelled himself and many wonder why others don’t do the same.
    Yes, human beings may have more choice in the direction of their flowing than water does, but that does not mean that the pipelines which a person enters do not matter. The pipelines which we force our children through, the schools, the educational system are outdated, dilapidated and broken. The same for the pipelines that shape us throughout adulthood. They are at best not stemming, and at worst helping to cause, the wastage of human life.
    Yes, the water may be drying up at the source. Yes, the family structure, which is the reservoir
    from which human behaviour flows may need renovation. This only makes the national water management systems, and people development systems more important. It does not help that the pipes are made of lead and leaking or that the these systems are poorly designed.
    I don’t know about looking to import new people. I do, though, believe in putting as much energy and focus into fixing the broken people development systems we already have. Little tweaks like going republic or removing the 11-Plus, or removing Nelson’s statue are fine, but must be part of an overall initiative to overhaul the national consciousness.
    By national consciousness I mean, mine, yours, everyone’s. If you are a born and/or raised Bajan, you have been touched by the untreated intergenerational trauma of slavery and colonialism. Trauma does not sit quietly in the heart and mind of an individual. It spreads and travels like a rain of stray bullets, through time and space or water from a burst pipe.

    Adrian Green is a communications specialist. Email: Adriangreen14@gmail.com

    Source: Nation News


  57. It doesn’t matter how many big shots in the drug trade are disposed of, all that matters is the existence of a demand for drugs.

    The society is sick and it is all in the mind.


  58. @ Quaker John

    Sorry to digress. But a few years ago we talked about the man, aged then in his 90s, who rode a bicycle up the hill in Providence. Sadly he has died, aged 101. He was a great Owen Arthur fan, the only blot on his enormous character. A long and noble life. May he rest in peace.


  59. One can decriminalise the use and the sale of drugs. Perhaps that would take the big bucks out of it.

    There will always be crime because there are those who are just wrong’uns. They are in the minority. There are those who would rather die than commit a crime. Those two are in the minority. There are those who go with the flow or according to circumstances. Those are in the majority. If we change the circumstances of these people they will be law abiding citizens.

    So it is about minimising crime rather than eradicating crime. I believe it could be done with a holistic approach.


  60. COVID19 deaths per million population:

    San Marino 1237
    Peru 975
    Belgium 860
    Andorra 686
    Bolivia 668
    Spain 668
    Brazil 666
    Chile 660
    Ecuador 637
    USA 632


  61. Still some places reporting zero COVID19 deaths:

    Anguilla
    Bhutan
    Cambodia
    Dominica
    Eritrea
    Faeroe Islands
    Falkland Islands
    Fiji
    Gibraltar
    Greenland
    Grenada
    Laos
    Macao
    Mongolia
    New Caledonia
    Saint Barts
    Saint Kitts & Nevis
    Saint Lucia
    Saint Pierre & Miquelon
    Saint Vincent & the Grenidines
    Seychelles
    Timor Leste
    Vatican City
    Western Sahara


  62. 7 With with underlying health conditions or old die in Barbados from Covid and read 4 die with dengie in St Vincent and 34 get killed in Bim. Here in london we may be going on a lockdown as the government seems lost.


  63. Today’s Nation editorial.

    Gun crime worrying 

    COVID-19 HAS FORCED Barbados into focusing on two critical areas. The first has been how to contain a health pandemic which has the potential to claim many lives. The second is how best to respond to the tremendous economic fall-out which has left as many as 40 per cent of the working population unemployed.

    The violent gun crimes problem which was top-of-mind before the pandemic has, as a result, slipped below the radar as the political effort has been on getting a united effort to contain the health threat.

    During the national lockdown in the height of the pandemic, there was a lull in the gun crimes as people stayed indoors and there were fewer opportunities for street crimes.

    Whether the number of murders in 2020 is approaching the unprecedented and unacceptable 49 recorded last year is not the crucial point at this stage; it is the unrelenting shooting spree being reported too frequently again. It remains a worrisome situation.

    The brutal killing of popular small businessman Randy “Iran” Selman last Wednesday outside of his home in The Pine, St Michael shocked and shook not only those in his community but many others near and far. It was another senseless murder and reminds of the problem at hand.

    Regrettably, gun violence in this country is at an epidemic stage and this can be deduced from the number of incidents being reported with increasing frequency. Attorney General Dale Marshall may speak of crime overall ticking down, but shootings and murders have remained fairly consistent, and it is gunrelated offences which scare most citizens. It has the potential to undermine some of the initiatives to restore economic recovery such as the Welcome Stamp programme.

    The pandemic has exacerbated the financial stress and many people face undeniable hardships which may push some of them into criminal activities. That is a real risk some people may consider.

    This will require interdisciplinary studies by the sociologists, criminologists and others

    to look at the violent crimes and the negative impact on children, families and social services.

    Such an approach needs quick results, recommendations and implementation. The real challenge will be to get people back to work and not allow economic disparities to widen and ferment a feeling of hopelessness.

    As we envisage life after the crippling coronavirus pandemic, there must be concerted efforts in place to motivate citizens to support the police in greater measure in this fight against gun crimes. Asking people to come forward and say something about what they know simply has been unsuccessful, as has the threat of stiff jail sentences failed to be a deterrent.

    The police must win the hearts and minds of people in communities across Barbados even as they must enhance their intelligence gathering. Most importantly the Government must fill the numerous vacancies within the Royal Barbados Police Force. This is the ideal time given the number of qualified people in the job market.

    Regrettably, gun violence in this country is at an epidemic stage and this can be deduced from the number of incidents being reported with increasing frequency.

    Source: Nation


  64. The Nation article is honourable on the face of it. However, the obvious relationship between the drug trade and guns was not touched on.

    Nor that investigations have not been able to identify the real heavy men behind the trade. After years, why is this?


  65. ” Crime and violence”. Be careful what you pray for ,because you may get it. A prediction by Thompson? Or the inevitable outcome of emphasis on the wrong things.


    • The point has been made repeatedly, Barbados is a small and incestuous society. Will leave the comment right there.


  66. Are we becoming a nation of violence? Or are we already a nation of violent people. I see several varieties of violence in Barbados every day. Gun violence is only one manifestation of hate and frustration in this society. We need to get to the fundamentals. I tend to agree with John. The society is sick and it starts in the mind. What are we,all of us, telling ourselves?


  67. @ David BU at 9 :56 AM

    Because Barbados is “small” and “incestuous”, are you going to spend millions of dollars to build offshore islands and import 80 K people ? How do you know that the offshore islands will not change the sea currents and remove the shoreline from around the original Barbados?. And that the imported stock of people will have a defective gene that would wipe out the original inhabitants?

    I just thought I would “intellectualize” the discussion a little bit . Lol !!!.


    • @Vincent

      Hants in his inimitable way is not disagreeing with you. By associating the crime with depressed areas it confirms what we know.

      >


  68. @ Vincent
    So-called impoverished areas do not commit crimes. Individuals do. I remember, years ago, the police surrounded the Pine and everyone going in and out was searched. It was the most barbaric, brutal, piece of Eastern European policing that would make even the Chinese look liberal.
    And, as usual, there was not a single word said. I believe Hammy Lashley was the only person to speak out. We have a cultural interpretation of crime that says if you are black, unemployed, live in traditional areas then you are prone to criminality.
    In reality, it says more ab out the society than it says about the youths.


  69. The drug trade, I believe is half of the problem, because yes, some will turn to the drug trade to make money, because they need money, there is the other side, that the drug trade is pushed, because it makes a significant amount of money for those at the top. The trade also is international and with the volume of drugs spoken about, has to have serious people backing it, international people.

    The only way to deal with this aspect, is to work with international agencies to bring the culprits to justice.

    With the exception of that trade, there needs to be more done to develop communities, skills. However, the problem lies in getting people to do. Speak to tradesmen and many of them have difficulty getting an apprentice to work with them. No one is willing to spend the time to learn, to put in a few years of hard work to become a skilled worker, let alone the many years to become a master craftsman.

    This is where guidance is needed, from sociologists, not talk, but an implementation plan to get youngsters to open their attitudes to a different culture. But that needs to come from elders, who show a work culture.

    Not sure if you understand where I am coming from. It is not something that cna be solved in days, or months, but will take a few years to change.

    The focus is all wrong. I see the fetes and party cruises photos and I am appalled at what some of the girls wear. If I had a daughter she would not be going out so. What of the young men who see girls dressed so, as a viable partner? What are you thinking?

    We need to look at our standards. I am not hypocritical, do not believe in hiding things like the old colonial days. But at the same time, we need to have standards.

    My worry is that the situation on that front is too far gone. There are some great young people too, so there is hope, I hope.


  70. Getting many of them to work for what they consider to be peanuts is another matter.
    It’s far easy to sell wrapper and fanta. No?


  71. Anyone falsely naming an antagonist as a coronavirus contact in order to force them to self-isolate can be fined £1,000, under new regulations coming into force today, which also ban pubs and bars from playing loud music or allowing people to sing and dance.

    The new offences are among a string of new restrictions included without fanfare in legislation published yesterday, just hours before they came into effect.

    And ministers came under fire from a former Conservative chief whip for failing to inform MPs and the public before they became law.

    Health secretary Matt Hancock was forced onto the defensive in the House of Commons by a string of Tory MPs who said the poorly-communicated offences were proof that ministers should introduce restrictions only after a parliamentary debate and vote.

    Former chief whip Mark Harper told him: “[These were] 12 pages of detailed laws, with lots of detail and criminal offences and duties – including duties on employers and directors and officers with serious criminal penalties.

    “That’s why we need to scrutinise the detail of the legislation before it comes into force and give our assent to it, not just allow you to do so by decree.” (Quote)


  72. CRIME PREVENTION

    A prominent attorney working on reform of disciplinary procedures for attorneys, says there are options on the table to help the profession root out corrupt members and continue to rebuild the name of the profession.

    Marguerite Woodstock Riley QC, who was called to the Bar in Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, believes a suggestion to remove temptation from lawyers who may be prone to wrongfully use clients’ funds, particularly in land deals, could be achieved if two cheques were written, one in the attorney’s name for his fees and the other in the intended recipient.

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2020/09/29/qc-suggests-way-to-stop-lawyers-stealing-clients-money/

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