Guns and More Guns – Murder Statistics January to October 2022

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Acting Commissioner of Police Erwin Boyce

The young and the reckless are having access to guns at an “unprecedented” level, with police admitting they have “not yet touched the surface” on the issue.

Attributed to Assistant Commissioner of Police Erwin Boyce

See relevant analysis and access Barbados Murder Database @caribbeansignal.com

Barbados Murder Statistics January to October 2022

92 thoughts on “Guns and More Guns – Murder Statistics January to October 2022”


  1. More guns, warns top cop
    The young and the reckless are having access to guns at an “unprecedented” level, with police admitting they have “not yet touched the surface” on the issue.
    This alarm was sounded yesterday by Acting Commissioner of Police Erwin Boyce, who disclosed that they were now seeing a trend of guns that were new to the system being used in the commission of firearm offences. This is s shift from the sharing of weapons previously.
    Boyce was speaking to the media at a press conference yesterday in the wake of yet another brazen early morning shooting, this time in a public service vehicle (PSV) in Eagle Hall, St Michael, one of the busiest intersections, during the week.
    Reports from the police stated a man came up behind a ZR on its left side while it was stationary at the traffic lights and discharged a number of shots inside it, injuring a man in his back. He was transported in a private car for medical treatment.
    Ports
    In the televised press conference, Boyce, who was flanked by other members of the top brass of the Barbados Police Service, took aim at the ports of entry.
    “You would have recognised in recent times that we had a significant find at one of our ports of entries and that is significant because you are not talking about one or two firearms, you are talking about 38 firearms.
    “We are not manufacturers of firearms. What we have found, though, is that notwithstanding the collaboration we have with our critical partners at the port of entries, we are now beginning to see on our streets, firearms that are not wanted guns,” said Boyce, who described wanted guns as firearms that have not been traced to multiple hits.
    “This indicates to us that there is access to firearms that over time is now reaching the hands
    of some very young and reckless men. So we are seeing firearms and we are not seeing wanted guns, which would be guns that are shared. We do believe that there are a number of firearms out there and we have not touched the surface as yet,” the top cop further explained.
    Boyce disclosed that to date the Barbados Police Service had recovered 127 firearms, compared to the 78 seized by law enforcement for the same period last year.
    Back in 2018, Government announced that as part of its mission critical objectives it would be beefing up security at the ports of entry and since then has invested heavily in several scanners to detect any contraband through these points.
    However, stopping short of calling it corruption, Boyce said the security systems at these points of entry were only as effective as the persons manning them.
    “The chain is as strong as its weakest link and sometimes the weakest link is the human being and unless the human being comes to a realisation that the technology, the scanners are only going to do what they want them to do and to get the results that we want, then there will always be challenges. There must be a human element that is influencing some of these movement,” Boyce said.
    When asked if he was referring to corruption, Boyce said: “It does not matter how many scanners or technology is being used while a person is bent on doing a particular act to circumvent the system, then he will do the act and get through. This is something that is quite evident.”
    Despite the challenges, Boyce said he remains confident that law enforcement has a grip on the gun crime situation in the country. He revealed that police had solved 60 per cent of the killings.
    In gun-related killings, arrests have been made in 18 of the 29 shooting deaths for the year. He disclosed that as part of the strategy, traffic
    police would be incorporated into the road policing. However, he made it clear that this was not a job for the police alone and that it was going to take an all-hands-ondeck approach to arrest the problem. “One of the things about the investigation of crime is that it is not a solo activity for police officers. It is an activity that requires every law-abiding member of society, every corporate entity, every NGO, every government entity, every church and every family to be part of the solution.
    “Police do not have a silver bullet in relation to crime, we need to have a level of buy-in and we need to have that level of support,” he stressed. (CLM)

    Source: Nation

    Reply ↓

    • Shooting leaves some fearful
      By Jamar Knight
      jamarknight@nationnews.com
      A brazen daylight shooting in Eagle Hall yesterday morning has left many residents and workers in the area fearful of further retaliation.
      Those who witnessed the daring shooting were so scared that they were tight-lipped. In fact, they were so fearful that when a Weekend Nation team visited the scene, they were unwilling to give their names even though they shared their feelings about what they had witnessed.
      The shooting, occurred outside the popular R. A. Mapp Bar and Rotisserie around 7:40 a.m. near the traffic lights at the Eagle Hall junction.
      One man was left seeking medical attention for an injury to his back.
      According to witnesses, a man exited a vehicle behind a minibus which had come to a stop at the traffic lights. He approached on its left side and discharged a number of shots inside at a passenger. There was a flurry of activity as panic set in as people attempted to flee from the gunfire by jumping through the windows of the public service vehicle (PSV).
      While vehicular traffic had returned to normal by mid-morning, there were some people in the area who were still on high alert, sending nervous glances towards other pedestrians who traversed the area which hours earlier was the scene of the bold shooting.
      A Rubis service station employee who witnessed what happened explained that it was the third major shooting since she
      had started working nearby. While she was afraid of the current surge in gun crimes, she said she couldn’t set aside her civic responsibilities.
      She recalled some of what she witnessed. “I was dealing with a customer outside. I heard a loud ‘pax’ so I thought it was somebody car wheel that had burst. When I looked ‘round’, I see the van and see people jumping out of the windows to get away.”
      Shanniqua Brathwaite, who worked at the Street Pasta outlet in the area, said the spate of gun violence across the country had become “tiring and overbearing”. She pleaded with those involved to stop before innocent people were caught in the crossfire.
      “This is a busy area, people always here waiting for food so it coulda happen, and somebody coulda get hit that was innocent. I just want the men out there to just put down the guns and stop the violence. In terms of how it will affect business, it’s a 50/50. People might be sceptical to stand up outside to wait for their orders, so I ain’t sure – it’s a wait and see,” she said.
      Another pedestrian who had been in the market nearby when the incident occurred, Kimberley Prescod, echoed the plea to put an end to the violence. Prescod said the latest incident had reinforced feelings of “fear and terror” for those in the area as individuals needed to be more aware even doing mundane tasks like running errands.
      “When you coming in environments with innocent people, children, somebody may be liable to get hurt. It is not good enough. Nobody feels safe anymore. Every day it feel like somebody getting kill. Look at this morning; people going to be wondering if it safe to catch a
      bus or a ZR or a minivan. It is not good enough,” she said.

      Source: Nation


    • This call from the PSV sector is ironic.

      Call to address root of gun violence
      Public service vehicle (PSV) owners and operators’ safety concerns increased yesterday after a man was shot while travelling on a minibus.
      Although gun violence and other lawless acts have been carried out on board PSVs before, chairman of the Association of Public Transport Operators (APTO), Kenneth Best, and chairman of the Alliance Owners of Public Transport (AOPT) Roy Raphael, believe there needs to be a comprehensive strategy and conversation to get to the root of the issue.
      “The PSV industry has always been concerned because robberies occur on them and a guy lost his life on a PSV in St Lucy some years ago. It is not a good thing to leave home early to earn a living to carry law-abiding citizens to their destination only to be disrupted by some lawless act by an individual.
      “This is uncharacteristic and out of control because every day somebody is being gunned down,” Best said.
      While making it clear that he believed the issue was bigger than politics, he suggested that a multi-modal approach was needed.
      “What happened today was a microcosm of what is happening in society because there are serious underlying problems and we as a society need to get to the root of the problem.
      “Is it that we have moved away from the way we trained and raised our children? Is the school or parenting failing? Whatever it is, we need to put our heads together and I don’t mean politically, but as a country, to see how best we can grapple this,” Best added.
      Police said that around 7:40 a.m. yesterday a man shot several bullets into a yellow PSV while it was stopped at traffic lights by the Barbarees Hill/ Eagle Hall, St Michael junction.
      One man was injured in his back and he was transported in a private car for medical treatment.
      Raphael said police had to step up before people
      started to take measures into their own hands.
      “I did a study on gangs years ago when I was in Eden Lodge Community Council and we found out gangs started because the police were unable to provide that level of security for the community and people started to protect themselves,” Raphael said.
      The AOPT chairman said the situation could not continue unchecked.
      “This is very serious because it can impact innocent people that go about their business and tourists. We cannot continue to allow our operators to work under those conditions, particularly late at night. I am calling for a national discussion on crime that would include police, politicians, and the public because the public needs to be safe,” Raphael said.
      (TG)

      Source: Nation


  2. The fundamental problem is that the damn place is being run by a set of clowns, so it is no wonder that we have a circus.

    How long ago has Bushie warned that we have created an ass-backwards ‘eddykashun system’ that promotes low-esteem sheeplike jokers, while alienating assertive, creative, alpha types?
    It is why we now see hoards of feeble women and shiite men everywhere in ‘leadership’ contending with the alpha type deviants that we have created, and condemned to the Blocks.

    This will be ‘no contest’, just like the ZR shiite.
    Shitehounds ALWAYS lose to alpha types. It is the way of Nature.

    The situation can ONLY be resolved now by the intervention of a SUPER alpha-type who is righteous enuff to restore sanity to the situation.
    Perhaps our Enuff will step up to the plate…. 🙂

    This not only applies to Brassbados and our ZR / crime / poverty / housing / nursing / transport / energy / water / bribery / incompetence …
    …but also globally.

    So when the Bible speaks of a super alpha-type bushman coming back in all his macho glory, to restore sanity, it is difficult to conceive how much more practical and appropriate that scenario can be, to our current (and worsening) situation.

    Hurry up and come Boss….

    Reply ↓

  3. Nobody will take their mouthings seriously until somebody is charged for the 38 guns at the port.

    Unless the guns were in transit to another country, somebody should already be in custody or wanted notice issued if they have fled the country.

    Maybe the importer of the guns is so huge the authorities need to figure out how to spin it or make it go away lest it bring too much international scrutiny down on our little rock.

    Reply ↓

  4. This return of the super alpha macho man to solve all problems routine reminds me of something.

    The long awaited coming of THE KRAKEN!

    When is the big brass bowl bottom supposed to fall out again?

    Counting down to new year!

    I suspect I will be laughing into MY PILLOW.

    PILLOW TALK!

    MURDAAAAAAAAH!

    Reply ↓

  5. Make that the big brass bowl bottom supposed to DROP out!

    In honour of the great PROPHET Bob Marley whom we absolutely love to quote.

    Reply ↓

  6. HOW MANY POLICE INCLUDING DETECTIVES AND HIGHER UPS ON THE 2 X 3 ISLAND HAS BEEN CHARGED WITH DRUG DEALING, HUMAN TRAFFICKING, GUN SELLING RACKET, FRAUD ETC?

    NEXT TO NONE ON THE SCALE THAT SHOULD BE IN FRONT OF THE CRIMINAL COURTS.

    THERE ARE MORE A PART OF THE PROBLEM THAN A SOLUTION SAME AS POLITICIANS WHO WORK HAND IN HAND WITH THE DRUG BOSSES, BE THERE BLACK WHITE OR INDIAN.

    EASY TO FOCUS ON THE LITTLE BOYS ON THE BLOCK WHO ARE BARELY SURVIVING.

    THE BOYS ON THE BLOCKS AROUND THE ISLAND CAN TELL YOU WITH ACCURACY WHO ARE THE CROOKED POLICE, POLITICIANS, IMMIGRATION OFFICERS, CUSTOMS OFFICERS WHO ARE INVOLVED IN MAJOR CORRUPTION AND CRIMINAL CONSPIRACY AT A PANDEMIC LEVEL ON THE 2 X 3 ISLAND.

    Reply ↓

  7. @ David

    I know the guy who was found dead at his home at Springfarm, St. Thomas.

    He was popularly known as ‘Jet Man.’

    Sincere condolences to his relatives and numerous friends.

    Reply ↓

    • Sorry to hear Artax. With the crime situation in recent years and covid related deaths it has been a difficult time for many.


  8. Condolences to his relatives and friends of ‘Jet Man.’

    How many more must be murdered before something decisive is done ?

    As a 70 year old contemplating a trip to Barbados should I just forget about it and stay in the freezer ?

    Peacefully existing till you die is the expection especially for us with a few more years to live.

    Reply ↓

  9. Baje,

    If you know, you know.

    Some jokers think the issue is stopping gun violence by itself.

    How can you solve violence, when that is only part of the main problem that you have clearly stated?

    Reply ↓

  10. @ David

    It’s sad news.

    However, ‘Jet’ was a very popular and friendly guy.

    Unfortunately, he used to wear several gold chains and bracelets…… and walked around with large sums of money, which he openly displayed when purchasing items.

    Anyone engaging in such activities, ‘especially in these times,’ is only attracting attention to him/herself.

    As it relates to crime, I’ve read where some people have made a definitive correlation between crime and poverty.
    Although that opinion may be true in some cases, what I’ve realised is when caught, persons who commit crimes such as aggravated burglary, robbery or theft, often admit they purchased clothing, shoes, alcoholic beverages and ‘herb’ with their ‘ill-gotten gains.’

    I’m also aware there are reported and unreported incidences of theft occurring in primary and secondary schools, where some students begin their ‘life of crime’ by stealing stationery, devices, lunch, school bags and shoes, or bullying other timid children for their lunch money.

    This may seem harmless at that level, perhaps the reason why some parents defend their children who are involved in those activities.

    Reply ↓

  12. Arrest the crooks first. Nuff money to buy guns and get them past the port, more for drugs.

    Heretofore the crooks have acted upon our nation without any encumbrance. Now the chickens have come home to roost.

    How many multimillionaires has the drug trade made in Bim? People without scruples allowed to run unfettered and we are surprised that it hath cometh to this?

    My Trini friend used to say “yuh shupidy or what?”.

    People “calling for an end to violence”. How seh? Tink dem cay? Yuh shupidy or what?

    To end the violence yuh gotta stop the criminal trade.

    But as alla dem youngsters get dry money from it yuh problems might be bigger than yuh realise.

    You not going like how it can be stopped.

    Reply ↓

  13. We want some honest and hard police again.

    Police like Lion Man an those caliber, with special dispensation and legal protection to deal with these criminals how they must.

    And dont give me no namby pamby about “you cant do that”.

    “Tell me what de police can do” remember that soca of ill discipline?

    Dem need showing “what de police can do”.

    And if they get bail for murder, they better stop in jail.

    Wunna making sport.

    That is the problem.

    Reply ↓

  14. Artax is correct. The children have to walk about with their backpacks on their backs. Put them down and turn around and they are gone. Leave anything at all unattended for a minute and it will be taken.

    Reply ↓

  15. We want some honest and hard police again

    TIMES HAVE CHANGED.

    TOO MUCH EASY MONEY BEEN FLOATING AROUND FOR A LONG LONG TIME.

    THERE IS A PANDEMIC AND THE FOXES HAVE LONG BEEN LET LOOSE IN THE CHICKEN HOUSE RE CORRUPT POLICE/POLITICIANS AND THE GENERAL MASSES ON THE 2X3 ISLAND.

    Reply ↓

  16. A workplace with lots of near misses will eventually have a serious accident. A country unable to tackle minor offenses like dark window tint, reckless dirt bike riders, off-route ZRs and riders with no helmets is incapable of preventing serious crime like praedial larceny, aggravated burglary and murder. A recent shooting was carried out by a dirt bike rider. Is it any surprise if drive bys are done by cars with the darkest tint possible.
    We need a Captain Gary Griffith

    Reply ↓

  17. I don’t know if there are any homemade guns in Barbados (as a youth folks used to say that a guy who worked at Bulkely used to make guns) and there are no commercial gun manufacturers in Barbados so any guns on the street have to arrive via our Ports of entry i.e., the Airport or the Harbour. Those two facilities are our weakest link(s). Recently the authorities intercepted a shipment of guns at the Port and I would wager that it wasn’t the first time that guns made their way into the island via that avenue however there hasn’t been news of any subsequent arrests and we all know that items can’t ship themselves they need a shipper and an individual or business listed to receive the goods.

    It should be a slam dunk to locate the individual to whom the items were directed, instead we have been subjected to the local grapevine about corrupt Customs officials and corrupt persons in high places that facilitated the entry of guns into the island.

    If the Police are serious about “adjusting strategies”, they should focus their lens on the personnel at both the Port and the Airport as a first step.

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2022/11/11/police-chief-says-lawmen-adjusting-strategies-to-deal-with-persistent-shootings/

    Reply ↓

  18. @ Sargeant,

    Who wrote ” items can’t ship themselves they need a shipper and an individual or business listed to receive the goods.”

    The excuse will be that ” the matter is still under investigation “

    Reply ↓

  19. Barbados has miles of unprotected coastline.

    Yachts and high powered sport fishing boats can transport and deliver guns without going to Port.

    Reply ↓

  20. Redguard for the island to appoint a Gary Griffith and give him the tools would mean that yuh want to wipe out the trade. If yuh want to guh to St.Lucy yuh get in a car and drive ent? So what is different? Nuh lotta long talk. Same way with gun imports. I think the scholarly people call it endemic.

    Guh back and read what Baje said. A lot of people like they dont understand yet.

    In the 1970s Bim we had tourism, clothes factories, furniture, sugar.

    Now we got what? Just tourism. Where the money does come from?

    People shupidy or what?

    Reply ↓

  21. Schoolchildren stealing endemic. What does that tell you? And them same ones going grow up to be ministers and what they will do? …like xxxxxxx… I see him and a bunch of friends tiefing when in our teens. Brek innna place and carry way stuff. Nuh lie.

    Stupse. Is we culture. And THAT is why Baje call we 2×3.

    Reply ↓

    • @Sargeant

      One can only speculate why it took so long for the public to be made aware a suspect is being questioned about the recent gun haul at the Port. Why not issue a statement to remove public speculation?


      Suspect in custody over gun, ammunition haul
      Police have a man in custody in connection with the recent gun and ammunition find in the Bridgetown Port.
      Sources said that the suspect, who lawmen have been questioning for about a week, is expected to be charged with firearm offences.
      On October 24, police were called in after a stash of 35 guns and more than 700 bullets were discovered in a barrel in the port.
      On Thursday during a press conference at police headquarters, Acting Commissioner of Police Erwin Boyce said investigations into the
      seizure were still active.
      “The investigation is very active; it is not a narrow investigation, it is an expansive one. We are working feverishly and continuously at our end. We have to work with partners to get to bottom of the entire situation. So I am saying that the investigation will continue; it will embrace a number of partners,” Boyce said.
      ( AC/CLM)

      Source: Nation


    • Here is former Commisioner Tyrone Griffith speaking in his capacity as a citizen, we know he knows what is going on, retired or not. Again he hints at corrupt behaviour at the Port.

      Griffith queries security of ports

      By Colville Mounsey
      colvillemounsey@nationnews.com
      Former Commissioner of Police Tyrone Griffith says it appears that recent fixes put in place to stem the flow of guns through the ports of entry are not working.
      Griffith, who has raised concerns about perceived cracks in the border controls for almost a decade, told the Saturday Sun the relevant authorities owe the country some answers to some very serious questions.
      The former top cop was responding to the alarm raised by Acting Commissioner Erwin Boyce, who said on Thursday during a press conference that the criminal element in Barbados was having access to firearms at a level that was “unprecedented”, admitting that police “have not yet touched the surface” on the issue.
      Stopping short of calling it corruption, Boyce also said the security systems at these points of entry were only as effective as the people manning them.
      “It does not matter how many scanners or technology is being used. When a person is bent on doing a particular act to circumvent the system, then he will do the act and get through.
      This is something that is quite evident,” he added.
      Human element
      Griffith, who retired as Commissioner last year, is questioning whether changes put in place since 2018 went beyond the installation of new scanners and state-of-the-art risk assessment software.
      “Boyce partly addressed the problem when he mentioned the human element because that obviously is a factor. I cannot tell you what has changed and what has not changed because I am a civilian like everyone else.
      However, the people in position need to speak to several issues like whether or not there is an improvement with personnel at the ports of entry or whether the same people are there.
      What changes have been made with regard to personnel at ports?
      Is there even some form of rotation of duties so that persons can’t easily circumvent the system?”
      Griffith said.
      Scanners
      He said that as a concerned citizen he also wanted to know whether the scanners purchased were adequate to capture all contraband people may attempt to ship in.
      “Additionally, I think the people responsible for the scanners need to come out and state whether the equipment is appropriate or not.
      Do we have the right scanners and are they appropriate for the job? It is not enough to simply say that we have scanners. As far as I am aware, there are cameras in the port and before I left there were more earmarked to be installed and should be in place by now,” he said. When contacted yesterday, director and chief executive officer at the Barbados Port Inc., David Jean-Marie, said: “The Commissioner of Police has made a statement on the issue and I have nothing further to add. As far as I am concerned this is not a news story.”
      However, chairman of the Barbados Private Sector Association, Trisha Tannis, said the business community was also concerned about the issues raised by Boyce on the ports of entry. She pointed out that quite a lot of public funds had been expended on the problem and therefore some form of accountability regarding the success of the measure is required.
      No answers
      “We have already thrown a lot of money behind this problem, and we have no answers as to why this is still happening. We are seeing instances where the scanners have worked, we have found some of the guns, but I don’t know that I am seeing anybody going to courts, though,” said Tannis, who was referring to a seizure of 38 guns at the Bridgetown Port last month.
      “The goods must have been consigned to someone. I have been very open in saying that wherever the trail leads is where we need to go and there needs to be zero tolerance, regardless of who is involved. It could be that investigations are at a very sensitive stage and the police don’t want to come prematurely to the public and compromise that investigation.
      “We certainly want to see greater accountability throughout the entire system. So we need to know if the systems that are in place are working; otherwise, the public outcry is going to get stronger and stronger,” she said.

      Source: Nation


  22. Well if the police authorities have expressed concerns about the security at the Port ‘for years’ now,
    …and if the problem only seems to be getting worse..
    …and if the Chairman of the Port has no comment, and does not see this as a ‘news story’

    Wuh shiite! – we MUST all be Brass Bowl idiots….as Bushie has always maintained..
    Cause…
    If his job is secure – despite all the ‘concerns’,
    then it is only obvious that whoever appoints him is happy with the shiite..

    Reply ↓

  23. @ David
    And while you are at it composing a response to Bushie’s Port shituation,
    spare a thought for Sir Cave from the Hillary.
    No man has had his level of gall since Churchill….

    Imagine the CHIEF architect of the local and regional tertiary education system publicly lamenting his colossal FAILURE – and the consequences it has for societal collapse, and speaking as if he is standing on the moral high ground.

    ANY normal human would resign in SHAME and sleek off into obscurity like Froon did (before resurrecting himself to ensure another 30-0 for the DLP)

    But then again when the chief ANTI-colonialist spokesman would accept a knighthood and bow to the queen that he was so eloquently cussing, what else should we have expected…?

    But you can throw ANY shiite at brass bowl topsides, can’t you..?

    What a damned place!!
    Perhaps the Garrison erection is well placed after all….

    Reply ↓

  24. Please remind the Blogmaster who is the chairman of the Port Authority?
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Sorry, the quote is from the CEO not chairman

    Reply ↓

  26. CLOSER 2 HOME:

    From the day the nation’s elites built that “FREEMASON TEMPLE” on the corner there in St. George – the “VERY SOUL” of the country was sold down the river to the “DARK FORCES” of “LUCIFERIAN INTRIGUE”…

    When you plot the “LONGITUTUDE & “LATITUDE” coordinates – the point of intersection fall smack dab in the middle of where that tem[ple] has been planted by the dragon of FREEMASONRY (your poLIEtical, reLIEgious & business elites on that island) …

    Anyone who has vociferously studied “SACRED GEOMETRY” & the alchemy of FREEMASONRY knows the architecture of how their plans works…

    The same can be said of Barbados – as is evident in all the other “FALLEN” nations (i.e.) London, Paris, Rome, Washington etc…

    The final nail in the coffin was when your beloved PM was caught out doing a ritualistic simulation down in GUYANA* that was symbiotic to the “LUCIFERIAN WAR-DANCE” done in the “BOHEMIAN GROVE” by all those “NECROMANCERS” – so-called world leaders & their “ELITES” who gather to pay their “LUCIFERIAN PATRONAGE & HOMAGE” to the “OWL” – the creature who see the “LIGHT” in the “DARKNESS”…

    Your “PRIME MINISTER” is a “JEZEBEL LUCIFERIAN” who has completed the process of selling “THE SOUL OF THE NATION” to the dark forces of “EVIL” for filthy gain!!!

    So do not be surprised at the exponential upsurge in “MURDERS”, “VIRULENT VIOLENT CRIME”, “RAPE”, “BURGLERIES”, “DRUG PROLIFERATION”, “MORAL/POLIETICAL CORRUPTION”, “#ReLIEgiousAPATHY” & the never-ending spiral of unanswerable conundrums the country faces…

    This is a “CROSS-ROAD” that forks into something much more diabolical & as a person who has “ZERO-FEARS” (I FEAR FOR MY COUNTRY BARBADOS) & the seismic fallout that is about to ensue…

    Final thought:

    FOR THIS CURSE TO BE BROKEN – those who have been responsible for it must be dealt with by “THE SOVEREIGN LORD HIMSELF” on the condition that the people “RISE-UP” & spiritually through “PRAYER, FASTING & REPENTANCE” – cast down the “SATANIC STRONGHOLDS” that has fettered the nation…

    The “ANGEL WATCHERS” & “THE HOLY ONES” are waiting to completely “SLAY the wicked ones amongst us who have perverted the way of righteousness (and we know who they are) but again, the conditionality rest with “THE PEOPLE”!!!

    #IAMDONE

    Reply ↓

  27. MUCH CLOSER 2 HOME:

    From the day the nation’s elites built that “FREEMASON TEMPLE” on the corner there in St. George – the “VERY SOUL” of the country was sold down the river to the “DARK FORCES” of “LUCIFERIAN INTRIGUE”…

    When you plot the “LONGITUTUDE & “LATITUDE” coordinates – the point of intersection fall smack dab in the middle of where that tem[ple] has been planted by the dragon of FREEMASONRY (your poLIEtical, reLIEgious & business elites on that island) …

    Anyone who has vociferously studied “SACRED GEOMETRY” & the alchemy of FREEMASONRY knows the architecture of how their plans works…

    The same can be said of Barbados – as is evident in all the other “FALLEN” nations (i.e.) London, Paris, Rome, Washington etc…

    The final nail in the coffin was when your beloved PM was caught out doing a ritualistic simulation down in GUYANA* that was symbiotic to the “LUCIFERIAN WAR-DANCE” done in the “BOHEMIAN GROVE” by all those “NECROMANCERS” – so-called world leaders & their “ELITES” who gather to pay their “LUCIFERIAN PATRONAGE & HOMAGE” to the “OWL” – the creature who see the “LIGHT” in the “DARKNESS”…

    Your “PRIME MINISTER” is a “JEZEBEL LUCIFERIAN” who has completed the process of selling “THE SOUL OF THE NATION” to the dark forces of “EVIL” for filthy gain!!!

    So do not be surprised at the exponential upsurge in “MURDERS”, “VIRULENT VIOLENT CRIME”, “RAPE”, “BURGLERIES”, “DRUG PROLIFERATION”, “MORAL/POLIETICAL CORRUPTION”, “#ReLIEgiousAPATHY” & the never-ending spiral of unanswerable conundrums the country faces…

    This is a “CROSS-ROAD” that forks into something much more diabolical & as a person who has “ZERO-FEARS” (I FEAR FOR MY COUNTRY BARBADOS) & the seismic fallout that is about to ensue…

    Final thought:

    FOR THIS CURSE TO BE BROKEN – those who have been responsible for it must be dealt with by “THE SOVEREIGN LORD HIMSELF” on the condition that the people “RISE-UP” & spiritually through “PRAYER, FASTING & REPENTANCE” – cast down the “SATANIC STRONGHOLDS” that has fettered the nation…

    The “ANGEL WATCHERS” & “THE HOLY ONES” are waiting to completely “SLAY the wicked ones amongst us who have perverted the way of righteousness (and we know who they are) but again, the conditionality rest with “THE PEOPLE”!!!

    #IAMDONE

    Reply ↓

    • Sorry Terence, it is too late to look for a break in the curse.

      When the whacker ‘get tek way’, …THAT was the point of no return.
      Bushie had explained about the URGENT need for ‘sack clothes and ashes’ while the whacker was wukkin … but not a fella cared…

      The Temple was symbolic, but do you see the ACTUAL ALTER that Froon was moved to build at the Garrison…?
      THAT was the final straw….boss.

      It is now just about laying down in the bed that we have made, …and that we have reinforced with a resounding 60-0, and reaping our just reward as explained in Isaiah 3.

      Note that Froon was again ‘moved’ to come from his hideout to ENSURE the second 30-0.

      Anyone who thinks that these ‘happenings’ are purely coincidental, and not HIGHLY influenced by forces BEYOND our imagination, can be properly described as ‘blinded’…

      Such persons are invited to enjoy the ‘privilege’ of not seeing the oncoming traffic….

      …BUT not stinking Bushie.


  28. The hardest thing is to know, blame your BIGGEST ENEMIES, ya judas traitors.

    Reply ↓

  29. Terence…finally got the spelling of your name right.

    Maybe they will listen to you. Many of usare really too busy otherwise, they are fortunate to have you still trying on their behalf, if they don’t listen to you and Bushman now, oh well, there will still be over a billion of us..

    Reply ↓

  30. Seems like Crime does pay and becomes a Business / Career to pursue in times of high Youth Unemployment. Corruption in poor countries is called Opportunity and happens given a chance. Looking for the pocket by looking the other way is a nice earner and is less complicit, sometimes they have no choice as threats are made for non-compliance.

    Reply ↓

  31. If his job is secure – despite all the ‘concerns’,
    then it is only obvious that whoever appoints him is happy with the shiite.

    DAVID JEAN-MARIE CEO OF THE PORT AND PETER HARRIS OF CGI TOWERS AND INSURANCE HAS BEEN BEST BUDDIES FOR A LONG TIME AN OPEN SECRECT IN THE CRIMINAL UNDERGROUND.

    BESIDES GUNS THERE HAS BEEN MANY THOUSANDS OF POUNDS OF WEED AND COCAINE COMING THROUGH THAT PORT FOR MANY YEARS UNDER THE CEO WATCH.

    I SAY NO MORE.

    Reply ↓

  32. well…now they have one, they can take their NO CHOICE and GO DOWN with their masters…without them and their treacherous bloodlines, and undereducated status in the last hundred years, none of this could have happened.

    they are and always have been the WEAKEST LINKS….i can’t stand politicians, because they are not real leaders, they are PUPPETS ON A STRING….that the world’s population are about to take a pair of scissors to and sever that string.

    Reply ↓

  33. Two items
    (1) Typee
    Wasn’t Tyrone Griffith the COP when the scammers were being installed?
    As COP would that be the time to ask these questions? A time that he had power and his voice would have some weight.
    Asking question now to prove what point?
    Did he gain this knowledge only after he left the job?
    Did was he develop courage / a tongue only after all his business get fixed?
    Get out of here. Peddle the watered-down concern elsewhere.

    *** People are going to the bank first, depositing their checks and finding their voices when the sound does not carry. I believe some of these items were identified by the pick-a-noise crew, though OUR emphasis was on the cost of the scammers

    (2) Trisha Tannis
    “We have already thrown a lot of money behind this problem, and we have no answers as to why this is still happening. We are seeing instances where the scanners have worked, we have found some of the guns, but I don’t know that I am seeing anybody going to courts, though,” said Tannis, who was referring to a seizure of 38 guns at the Bridgetown Port last month.

    ***Why is this still happening? I am glad that you asked? You call it throwing around money, I call it fooling and robbing the citizens of Barbados. If you would only admit and agree that this money was never intended to solve the problem. An if it solved anything then that was accidental. It was merely the transfer of funds from one pocket to the other.

    But you! You dare not admit that fact as it would show the utter Chaos of the “ordered system” that you believe in.

    I had a good friend whose daily prayer was “life is a bitch”. Let me tell you this “reality is an ass-kicker”. Closed eyes or not, you are feeling the kick.

    I can hear your stifled groan.

    Reply ↓

  34. Typo Saturday.
    Ending exile early today.
    Will try to get a few comments in.
    Frank, that was an alert. Start scrolling.

    Reply ↓

  35. https://barbadostoday.bb/2022/11/12/sir-hilary-says-level-of-enrolment-in-higher-education-tragic/

    Not going to hurt my head trying to figure out what was said but did he explain if tertiary graduates will have the same or similar diversity of opportunities as those in other countries.

    Reductio ad absurdum.
    Suppose you lived in a country where the only job was picking grass … an abundance of degrees may be seen as ‘a good’ thing but it is not really smart or useful. It may be smarter to invest in some protection for your hands.

    Reply ↓

  36. I am curious about how we rank events. I saw where today will be celebrated as Remembrance Day in Barbados. Do you think that when they placed Independence Day of the chopping block that someone put Remembrance Day there as well.

    I am not suggesting that they should have, I am only wondering if the idea ever crossed their minds. I am not a gambling man, but I would bet it never did.

    Reply ↓

  37. “higher education” to what, to be the Petra Wickies, the Henry Harlots and puppets on expert masters’ strings like the nuisance
    politicians…..or mindless worker drones for the tiefing corrupt subspieces on the island, steupppss…

    oh please, someone tell Hilary that he and his colonial education are about to become EXTINCT…just like the dodo bird.

    Reply ↓

  38. It looks as if I missed the memo
    Then
    “The reality is that where there is corruption, there will always be problems. And so, if the system is corrupt, then we are not going to get the information and support. You have to work together to break the back of those crimes. And so, even though the intelligence says that, you are not going to get that tip that breaks it…There is corruption. There must be some form…there must be corruption if you are going to have the number of firearms that are coming onto our shores illegally…then there has to be corruption”

    I read and reread, but there was no mention of the ‘capabilities’ of port scammers in the post back then. Even in the paragraph above, he seem to approach the possibility of corruption as a hypothetical.

    Saved rating” Failed (major)
    I can only conclude that TG made it to the sacred cows list and must be defended.

    Reply ↓

  39. Corruption! That word rears its ugly head again. A Gov’t without an elected opposition introduced The Integrity in Public life bill which subsequently died in the Senate. Despite a second 30 love victory there has been no haste in passing a similar piece of legislation again. I remember a time when after the DLP’s victory in the 2008 election the late Owen Arthur and the current PM rushed to declare their “assets” . That was then this is now, Integrity in Public life remains a chimera, if politicians won’t get their house in order, why do we expect them to demand that others put theirs in order.

    Reply ↓

  40. I would leave them all to it, they will IMPLODE ANYWAY…that’s the trajectory..

    people should be more concerned with their health.

    AstraZeneca was REFUSED permission to create another of their vaccine blood clots and drop it on people. If ya haven’t yet, yall should have started real immunity therapy, as best you can….as soon as you got those vaccines, after the 6 week period where things were liable to go wrong. and if ya haven’t, well, what can i tell ya…it’s been 2 years or close for some…some have been using different things to boost that immunity from yet illnesses.

    let the corrupt focus on tiefing or whatever else they do, saw a bunch of people buried recently and couldn’t carry shit with them…and some were quadrillionaires.

    Reply ↓

  41. woke up too early, did too much, tired.

    some have been using different things to boost that immunity from yet UNKNOWN illnesses.

    AstraZeneca was REFUSED permission…

    take note that they did not use any mRNA technology, so imagine those who did, and the other 2…. sinopharm and J&J..

    your health is more important to focus on right now than sleazy, crawly politicians.

    Reply ↓

  42. What does William say repeatedly and always get cussed or attacked for it:

    ya don’t plant peas and expect to reap potatoes…

    these WILLFULLY depressed neighborhoods were maliciously pauperized, oppressed, exploited and NEGLECTED all through the fake independence..because they are only seen as uneducated voters, only useful for filling the slave master parliament with TRASH..

    SAY IT LOUD: ya reap what ya sow.

    “Confident criminals have friends in high places
    By Anesta Henry
    Criminal elements in Barbados have become emboldened and Government will have to take responsibility for that situation.
    Charging that the operations of the police force have become more difficult within recent years, former Senator Caswell Franklyn said this is as a result of the perception that certain drug dealers have political ties.
    Franklyn said images of known or previously-convicted drug dealers brandishing invitations to important, high-profile Government events could only have created the belief among impressionable minds that they are well connected.

    “The Government must really be having buyer’s remorse. Now that the thugs are taking over, the Government can’t do anything about it.”
    The outspoken trade unionist told Barbados TODAY that like thousands of Barbadians, he is also concerned about the spike in gun-related murders and shooting incidents in public spaces.

    Franklyn indicated that the Barbados Police Service can only do so much with its resources to manage the criminal elements in society.
    He charged: “Those drug people are also community workers because the money that they get in drugs, they help the poor people in the communities and the poor people in the communities then protect them. So you can’t get them trapped so easily, the police can’t hold them so easily because the people protect them from the police,” he said.
    Franklyn added: “The communities, especially in the drug areas, will not cooperate because we have a lot of poverty in those areas and the drug men pay for the light bills, they pay for the food, pay for the water and that is why you can’t hold them”.

    During a press conference on Thursday evening, at Police headquarters in the City, acting Commissioner of Police, Erwin Boyce, called on persons in communities to help lawmen fight the criminal elements in society.
    However, Franklyn, a former Opposition senator said the acting commissioner is asking for a huge favour, and even described the lawman’s call as “just idle talk”.
    “The acting Commissioner of Police must know that by now. I know it. And that is why those fellas have so much influence at elections, because the politicians know that these people support the communities that they come from.”
    Franklyn said when a gunman can open fire in a public service vehicle, as was the case on Thursday morning at Eagle Hall, St Michael, the crime situation is out of control.
    “This fellow might not even be a supporter of any particular party. But he is seeing how the other criminals are getting away with it, so he wants to get away with it too because the example has been set. It is not hard for Barbados to turn back now, it is impossible”.
    (AH)
    “

    Reply ↓

  43. Just heard someone break down what John has been saying for 4 years, “the government is not legitimate.”

    they got an opportunity to play the bully role and grabbed it….but it will unravel..

    Reply ↓

  44. Off topic

    Lawyers complain that the delay in issuing a written judgement is hindering their efforts to appeal. The judge had assured the parties that her written decision would be available within 30 days of her October 8,2021 order.

    All together now

    Mañana, mañana, mañana is soon enough for me

    Mañana, mañana, mañana is soon enough for me

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2022/11/12/baffling-delay/

    Reply ↓

    • Cops kept busy as more gunplay occurs Friday
      A week of gunplay continued on Friday night with police probing another shooting incident.
      Police communications and public affairs officer, Acting Inspector Rodney Inniss, told the Sunday Sun yesterday preliminary investigations suggested that shots were fired in the community near My Lord’s Hill, St Michael. Lawmen received a report around 7:30 p.m. and went to Odessa McClean Road, but no one was hurt.
      “As a result of a report received from Operations Control, police responded to the mentioned area and interviewed a number of residents. There were no reported injuries, only damage to a motor vehicle. Checks will be made at the medical institutions to establish whether there were any injuries which were not reported,” Inniss said.
      Police were kept busy all last week dealing with three murders involving firearms and a couple more shooting incidents. It led to the top brass calling a press conference on Thursday, where Acting Commissioner Erwin Boyce admitted that criminal elements in Barbados now had at their disposal unprecedented access to guns and that law enforcement had not yet touched the surface of dealing with that problem.
      It all started last Sunday, when promising young footballer Kobe Shepherd was killed, the victim of a ride-by shooting around 10:40 a.m. According to police, he was standing in his community at Upper Gills Road, Greenfield, St Michael, when he was shot multiple times by a pillion rider on a motorcycle. The two men on the bike escaped onto Roebuck Street and Tweedside Road.
      Also on that day, 47-year-old Mark Armstrong, of Hothersal Turning, St Michael, was shot and killed just after 10 p.m.
      He was in Bridgetown, and after being hit, ran into the nearby Granville Williams Bus Terminal on Fairchild Street, where he collapsed and succumbed to his injuries, becoming the island’s 37th murder victim for 2022.
      Then on Tuesday, police were called to My Lord’s Hill, where a gunman with an automatic weapon fired multiple shots. When the smoke cleared, Owen Grannum, 39, became the next to die by the gun, four days before his birthday.
      Mouth injury
      A 28-year-old man from Barkers Road, St Michael, was also shot Tuesday night and was treated at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital for a gunshot injury to the mouth.
      On Thursday, a passenger in a public service vehicle (PSV) was shot in broad daylight at the Eagle Hall, St Michael junction.
      According to reports, a man left a vehicle behind the yellow PSV which had stopped at the traffic lights adjacent to Mapps, approached from the side and discharged a number of shots into the vehicle, which led to panic, with some passengers fleeing through its windows.
      One man was left seeking medical attention, having received an injury to his back.
      On Friday, former Commissioner of Police Tyrone Griffith, who retired last year, suggested that efforts
      by Government to curb the importation of illegal firearms through an increase in scanning equipment simply were not working.
      Police did make a dent in gun importation last month, however, when 35 firearms, mostly semiautomatic handguns, and more than 700 rounds of ammunition were intercepted at the Bridgetown Port on October 24. (BA/PR)

      Source: Nation


    • NCSA worried about new drugs on scene
      The National Council on Substance Abuse (NCSA) remains concerned about new trends in substance usage in Barbados.
      Substance abuse prevention officer, Paulavette Atkinson said the NCSA was currently investigating the diversification of the types of drugs being used locally.
      “We are continuing to investigate this with our stake holders, so at this time I am not in a place to speak to that… We recognised some differences in terms of how children were being exposed to alcohol. So some of those traditional substances are also being combined with newer and unknown substances,” she said.
      With the emergence of non-traditional substances such as ecstasy, methamphetamine
      and various prescription drugs, the data also linked males and those 40 and younger to the primary usage of these drugs, as they were the individuals seeking treatment.
      While males were noted as the predominant users of addictive substances, the number of females was on the rise especially as it related to alcohol usage. While exact figures could not be given, the NCSA said it hoped to collect updated data via the upcoming Secondary School Survey.
      Deputy Manager of the NCSA, Troy Wickham said findings in the 2020 National Primary School Survey revealed children as young as eight years old had admitted to substance use.
      “I can say the main drug is still alcohol, followed closely by what we call energy drinks. A small
      amount admitted to using marijuana in their life. The main source is at home, the family and siblings and this is a concern for us at the National Council on Substance Abuse,” he said.
      Further research by the NCSA has suggested that traditional drugs such as alcohol, marijuana and cocaine continued to be the main substances for which persons sought treatment. Marijuana was also the primary substance capturing the attention of law enforcement officials.
      According to the findings, age-related treatment trends suggested that marijuana was particularly problematic for people age 40 and younger. Meanwhile, the trend for people seeking treatment for alcohol and cocaine remained firmly for those 41 years or older. (JK)

      Source: Nation


  45. David,

    Hoping that fentanyl and other synthetic opiods have not hit Bim. But this is probably too late.

    These latest things seem to shatter lives even quicker.

    I heard that some children also sell drugs at schools, as agents for the dealers. Is there truth to this?

    As this continues, will people start to call for a Philipine type response?

    Starting to think that Singapore’s government had the right idea.

    Execute for trafficking?

    Reply ↓

  46. @November 13, 2022 at 5:26 AM
    “While males were noted as the predominant users of addictive substances, the number of females was on the rise especially as it related to alcohol usage. While exact figures could not be given, the NCSA said it hoped to collect updated data via the upcoming Secondary School Survey.
    Deputy Manager of the NCSA, Troy Wickham said findings in the 2020 National Primary School Survey revealed children as young as eight years old had admitted to substance use.
    “I can say the main drug is still alcohol, followed closely by what we call energy drinks. A small amount admitted to using marijuana in their life. The main source is at home, the family and siblings and this is a concern for us at the National Council on Substance Abuse,” he said.”

    ****
    The above points to a 2020 survey, but it would not be hard to imagine the same/ a similar process was followed as the IDB survey. Forget about parents, principals and teachers. Think about your child at 8 years of age.

    Can you imagine having your child’s name documented with drug use from the age of 8. Even, if your child became a saint at the age of 9 and onwards, there is information that could be use to the detriment of your child. That is why the IDB survey in all formats should be destroyed.

    Hopefully, you get it this time. Don’t wait until the disrespect comes to your loved ones to start seeing the light.

    Reply ↓

    • @David

      If I was a police, I would done wasting my time trying to catch perpetrators.

      The media need to do a check and state clearly at the top of the article ‘Already on Bail’ whenever someone brought before the court on fresh charges is out on bail.


    • @CA

      This is a worrying matter. The lawyers will tell you if a person charged does not pose a flight risk or sone other factor to prevent to prevent bail allowance the presumption of innocence must prevail.


    • @David, I know that you are aware that the BAIL process is a very difficult one PARTICULALRY when it is within a very slow judicial case management system like in Bim!

      This comes back to your ‘draconian’ remark earlier: maybe there should simply be NO BAIL allowed, period! But then that may disadvantage truly unfortunate Bajans who get caught in a legal problem through misfortune, right!

      Or maybe simply stated, absolutely no bail for any offenses where a gun is involved; where there is serious personal injury caused by any weapon like machete, knife etc; where drugs over a certain quantity is found … the list can be quite precise as it has been DONE many places previously and maybe already so in Bim!

      This bail thing has become too progressive (certainly in other western nations) with too much attempts to appease ; its hurting society and needs to get back to commonsense !

      Bail is allowed, of course, not just because one is “presumed innocent” but also re the seriousness of the offense, possible further danger to the original victim and what you mentioned among other factors….. So the question here is what were the risk factors associated to the ‘bail assessment’ on this perp … not just flight risk!

      Damn sure he will not now be issued bail again … so nothing stopped a serious and proper assessment initially that may have determined that he should have been remanded!


    • @Dee Word

      Didn’t the incumbent AG introduce an 18 month period if a person charged fell within couldn’t be eligible for bail and it was shutdown by the appeals court?


    • Get a grip on gun crime
      Threat seen to Barbados’ safe tourism brand
      by COLVILLE MOUNSEY colvillemounsey@nationnews.com

      AUTHORITIES ARE BEING URGED to quickly get a lid on Barbados’ spiralling gun crime, as it has the potential to tarnish the country’s tourism brand as a safe destination.
      This concerned is being raised by chief executive officer of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association, Geoffrey Roach, in the wake of multiple brazen shootings last week. One of the more troubling was the shooting of a man in broad daylight while aboard a public service vehicle.
      Roach said that while there is no evidence to suggest the recent spate of shootings was having an impact on arrivals, the situation needed to
      be carefully monitored.
      Very troubling
      “Any crime is always a concern for us. However, what we are seeing now as it relates to shootings is very troubling because safety is a big part of Barbados’ brand. Any crime that tends to make headlines, especially headlines that can be seen internationally, is something that we must keep a very close eye on because it can certainly have an impact on arrivals and this is certainly one challenge that we do not need,” he said.
      Expressing similar sentiments was former chairman of the Barbados Tourism Marketing Incorporated, Roseanne Myers, who has 35 years of experience in the industry. Making it clear she was speaking strictly within her capacity as a concerned citizen, Myers told the DAILY NATION the problem was much larger than tourism considerations.
      “I would say that in relation to Barbados’ brand as a destination, that as citizens we all must be concerned for our own safety. What we are seeing is really not the norm for Barbados. The expectation is that the authorities will try to give force to the issue. I believe it is very important for all of us as citizens first to get that right, and then we will be able to project the type of image of the destination that we are trying to market,” she added.
      When contacted, new Minister of Tourism Ian Gooding-Edghill said he was not able to comment on the issue raised by stakeholders as he is overseas.
      Acting Commissioner of Police Erwin Boyce, speaking during a press conference last Thursday, assured the public that despite the recent surge in gun violence, lawmen were “on top of
      the situation”.
      Four shooting deaths were recorded last week. On Sunday, November 6, in two separate incidents, 22-year-old Kobe Shepherd was killed at Upper Gills Road, Greenfield, St Michael, and Mark Anthony Armstrong, 47, of Hothersal Turning, St Michael, was shot dead in The City. Odwin Ryan Grannum, 39, of Licorish Village, My Lord’s Hill, also in St Michael, died on Wednesday, while on Thursday, the body of 72-year-old Simion Carlisle Legall was discovered with gunshot wounds to the head. Barbados has now recorded 39 killings for the year, the second highest amount in recent history.
      Chairman of the Barbados Private Sector Association Trisha Tannis said she was hard-pressed to say that the situation was under control.
      “Clearly, we do not have the situation under control, and I think the faster that we as a country can look ourselves in the mirror and be truthful, the faster that we may get to solutions that may actually work. We clearly do not have the situation under control and the prescriptions for this problem are very complicated.
      “Clearly the plan to address this has to be a multi-dimensional one that will involve a whole-ofsociety approach. This has to move beyond speaking to these issues, to having real and tangible impact on the ground. We also have to be very careful in how we measure success and that we are not naive in how we define it going forward,” Tannis added.

      Source: Nation


    • @Dee Word

      You recall the discussion about drastic interventions?

      See article Nation article.

      ‘Heavy hand’ call
      BURGLARY AND GUN VIOLENCE are two of the major crimes that worry Barbadians.
      However, to combat the latter, heavy-handed measures might be needed to fight the current crime wave.
      Senior research officer at the Criminal Justice Research and Planning Unit Kim Ramsay made that suggestion yesterday after highlighting findings from the Public Opinion Survey on Crime and the Criminal Justice System (2021).
      While acknowledging that the importation of guns was a major issue, Ramsay suggested that a programme similar to the United States Department of Justice’s Weed and Seed community-based programme could be useful.
      “We have to start with cleaning up all of our borders, airports, and seaports, and it has to be a major operation. We need to tackle the issue. We need to stop the haemorrhaging of guns at the border and the inflow of guns. Clean up the streets, do the patrols and sometimes we need heavy-handed tactics,” she said.
      Ramsay, however, cautioned that any militant approach had to be balanced with positive projects in hot spot communities.
      “However, in line with those heavy-handed tactics, you need to be planting seeds of growth; education,
      beautifying and, empowering communities, and working with marginalised and at-risk youth,” she said.
      The public opinion survey was carried out to examine the knowledge and attitudes of Barbadians on crime and the criminal justice system.
      It was undertaken via telephone and cellphone interviews as COVID-19 protocols were observed between October 2020 and February 2021, with 1 232 participants surveyed.
      Based on the findings, 42 per cent said they were victims of burglaries; 21 per cent, theft; sexual offence, four per cent; other assault 11 per cent; fraud, two per cent; domestic violence, three per cent; threats, two per cent; wilful damage, one per cent; while three per cent did not respond.
      In addition, 33 per cent said they never feared being shot, 28 per cent said “rarely”, 24 per cent answered sometimes, while 13 per cent said “frequently”.
      Fourteen per cent said they frequently feared their homes would be burgled when they weren’t there; 25 per cent said sometimes; 28 per cent said rarely and 32 per cent, never.
      Ramsay also said many people had improved their security systems.
      Although many of the respondents believed their communities were “safe”
      and commended the police, Ramsay said there was a need for more community police and youth programmes with input from community leaders.
      “Barbadian’s views on the criminal justice system have remained fairly constant over the past 14 years. They are mainly concerned about the economy and the cost of living as they were in 2008 and they are also very concerned about gun violence and crime. They gave the police a fair grade and rated them highest among criminal justicefighting professionals.” (TG)

      Source: Nation


    • Looks like the policymakers are catching up.

      Senator: Criminals recruiting schoolboys
      INDEPENDENT SENATOR Reverend Dr John Rogers is charging that some young Barbadian schoolboys are being recruited to carry out violent gun crime by syndicates on the island.
      Speaking in the Upper Chamber yesterday in his contribution to the debate on the Fire Arms Amendment Bill 2022, Rogers said: “I understand that there are some syndicates on this island that recruit young schoolboys, put them on the payroll and put a gun in their hand. ‘I will pay you on a monthly basis, but when I say shoot you shoot,’” said Rogers.
      He added: “All of this is taking place at community level and somebody knows what is happening somewhere.
      “… Once people have guns in their hands you can set all the legislation you want, if I feel I need to take out a man I will take him out. That is the general thing on the ground. We have to get serious about finding those shadows who are putting these guns in our children’s hands. These little boys don’t import any barrels. Somebody is bringing these things and putting them in their hands,” said the independent senator.
      He cited an earlier statement he made in the Chamber where he was worried that Barbados’ election campaigns were no longer about issues, but who had the “power of spend”.
      “And once our campaign
      becomes about who has the power of spend, there will come a time when you will not have enough to buy votes and you will have to start eliminating them. Don’t think that it cannot happen to us just like what you heard . . . ,” he said.
      “And if there are untouchables in this society, if there are some people who are too big in this society that we cannot touch them, perhaps we need to look at leadership and justice in this society. No one in this society should be untouchable because at the end of the day the only people we will see dying are the little small fries down on the street,” he said as he expressed concerns.
      Referring to a recent gun seizure at the Bridgetown Port, Rogers said: “If those things had gotten on the streets in the hands of people who tend to do lawless things, the results could be detrimental to us all,” said Rogers The cleric noted “that as brilliant as this amendment may be…there needs to be something more and it is not something that can be brought about by legislation. It has to be brought about by a desire for change and transformation in the minds of our people”.
      Rogers said Barbados was facing a problem of leadership at several levels which included the home, the church and civic leadership. He, therefore, called for discussion.
      “It is not a political problem. We can call for
      the resignations of attorneys-general in every administration that will not solve our problem,” he said.
      In supporting the amendments, Rogers, however, said he hoped “the only people who go to prison are not the little chickens down at the bottom. If we are going to implement legislation like this we need to see some big boys, we need to find some shadows who are bringing the guns into this country.” (JS)

      Source: Nation


  50. Maybe it is time people on bail for theft, drug, murder and gun crimes be required to wear the COVID monitoring devices as condition for bail.

    Maybe that will keep them from committing fresh crimes if it is know they are tracked 24/7.

    Reply ↓

  51. A few days ago, there was a an article with lamenting the fact that too few students were enrolled in tertiary education. Here is one area that is not ‘suffering’.

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2022/11/15/new-attorneys-told-journey-has-now-started/

    As I saw the above article, I recalled that there was another recent article where a large number of ‘lawyers’ were admitted to the bar.
    Is Barbados producing 50 or more lawyers every year?
    If it is, how are they supporting themselves?

    This would explain the need to drag out cases for year and to cheat clients of money awarded to them. The grazing area is becoming overcrowded. Interestingly, one would think as the field becomes crowded that the price of legal fees would drop, but I saw a notice informing us that the fees for legal advice were recently increased.

    I seem to recall that the fees for a lawyer with QC designation were higher than those of a lawyer without the designation. That a lawyer’s bread and butter is affected should explain the reluctance to abandon titles such as QC and KC

    Reply ↓

  53. Buers like to congregate in Carmetta’s Corner Garden
    so using a Gardening metaphor to explain a calling in divine consciousness
    Seeds are placed in a store deep within and there are good and bad seeds
    the bad seeds or thoughts of the mind have to be suppressed
    and the good seeds nurtured to manifest into beautiful flowers
    This is part of the first 8 exercises of Mindful Breathing as taught by Buddha
    Never trust a Yank

    Reply ↓

  54. Come Here Come Here
    I go reason now
    Come Here Come Here
    It is dry season now
    Too much bad weed is in the garden
    I man go weed them out
    I don’t want to be hypocrite
    I want to know what you are dealing with
    East West North and South
    Jah Jah a go weed them out

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  56. Can’t bail also be determined by the strength of the evidence against the accused? I know that is a factor in some jurisdictions.

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  57. https://barbadostoday.bb/2022/11/18/invest-in-crime-fight/
    This is a different from an article that I read yesterday.

    Yesterday, it was businesswoman stating that crime is up and it will soon affect businesses and tourism. I read the article as if she was saying “if we can get ‘the criminals’ in a corner just killing themselves and not affecting our businesses then everything would be OK”

    I am trying to remember if the same joker referred to a US DOJ program ‘seed and weed’. Barbados must be careful in how it copies any justice program from the US. Let us hope that those who employ/follow these programs have the sense to weed out the in-built racial component. Barbados is not the US. Justice in the US is not blind.

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  58. I copy a lot of BT stuff.
    But I must admits that it seems as ideas generated on BU spawn contributions to other sources of media in Barbados

    👍@blogmaster 👍
    I may be mean at times, but he is one of my favorite guys.
    🙂 He may be incapable of criticism, but there is brain activity 🙂

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  59. But I must admits that it seems as if ideas generated on BU spawn contributions to other sources of media in Barbados

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    • The homicide crisis
      THE PERSISTENT NEWS of weekly homicides in the Eastern Caribbean represents a deep development crisis on several levels.
      To date, the number of homicides for 2022 in St Lucia had reached 63, Barbados 40, St Vincent and the Grenadines 30, and Dominica 15. Beyond the numbers, the surrounding features of these homicides point to deeper psycho-social challenges for the Caribbean.
      First, is their brazen nature, with the perpetrators showing little concern for secrecy, concealment or, more worryingly, the lives of uninvolved fellow citizens. In Barbados, a drive-by shooting has taken place on an occupied public vehicle in broad daylight, while in Dominica, a homicide took place in a hospital room after an earlier attempt at murdering the victim had failed.
      Another troubling feature is the associated evidence of public desensitisation to these killings.
      Several videos have circulated depicting young Caribbean males taking their final breaths on sidewalks, with scores of cellphone-wielding onlookers milling around, giving unsolicited “personal verdicts”, and with the voices of sobbing relatives and friends in the background.
      Significantly, several Caribbean leaders, including Barbados’ Prime Minister, have cautioned against our diminished capacity to be shocked and outraged by these homicides.
      Youthful perpetrators
      Equally problematic is the youthful nature of the perpetrators and the ease with which handguns and automatic weapons come into their possession.
      When the broader socio-economic circumstances are taken into consideration, such as the increasingly challenging economy, the failures of the education system in which 11-year-olds are parcelled into successful or failed lives, and the growing erosion of social-safety nets for the majority, then the complexity, depth and scale of the crisis confronting Caribbean society become apparent.
      It is troubling that while we have had total and sustained governmental responses to address, for example, the COVID-19 pandemic, we have not had a similar coordinated, planned, and multi-sided set of policy frameworks to confront homicides which occur within easily identifiable demographics and communities.
      To my knowledge, there has never been a special CARICOM meeting to fashion a common response to crime. There has not been a special sitting of a Caribbean parliament to address gun-related homicides, and there has not been a specifically coordinated national policy framework to address homicides.
      Long-term adjustments
      While there have been knee-jerk announcements and approaches which focus largely on policing, missing are the interconnected socio-economic long-term adjustments that offer alternatives to marginalised youth, whose socialisation
      places them at variance with the wider society. Similarly, opposition groups opportunistically politicise the crime issue, given its negative impact on otherwise successful governments.
      However, our policymakers can no longer go on shuffling and hoping that the moment will pass. What is required in the coming months is a deliberate, concerted, carefully thought-through set of policy frameworks which move away from end-point detention, punishment and policing but approach the problem from its economic, sociological, psychological and historical dimensions.

      Tennyson Joseph is a political scientist at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, specialising in regional affairs.
      Email tjoe2008@live.com.

      Source: Nation


  61. Vi et armis

    “Around 10 000 troops have surrounded the city of Soyapango in El Salvador as part of a massive crackdown on gangs, “

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