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Govt to legalize eavesdropping

Richard Boyce, Dale Marshall, Mia Mottley

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Yesterday Prime Minister Mia Mottley made two important statements with the objective of tackling the worrying crime situation in Barbados. Wire tapping and lie detector testing are measures Government intends to introduce in short order. It is no surprise the government has always had the means to engage in wire tapping activities, how many recall mention was made of it during the Waterman Commission dealing with the Alexandra School matter – See Jeff Broomes to Hal Gollop, Hello?

We have procrastinated and politicised the crime issue in Barbados through the years, both political parties, and have no choice but to introduce draconian measures that cross a line which seriously impinges individual freedoms we have been accustomed. We have no-one to blame exempt the person in the mirror.

The other important statement was the Prime Minister’s support of legislation to regulate tint. There has been significant pushback from the public against government’s decision to regulate tint on vehicles. If the Barbados Police Force (BPS) believes vehicles with ‘dark’ tint pose a threat to crime fighting activity who are we (members of the public) to contradict? The huge public outcry against it exposes the deep lack of trust by the public in the BPS and government.

Discuss for 20 marks.

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86 responses to “Govt to legalize eavesdropping”

  1. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    Another robbery.

  2. Hants Avatar
    Hants

  3. BAJE Avatar
    BAJE

    @ Fedup Police

    WHERE WERE YOUR INEPT LOCAL POLICE AT 3AM WHEN 211 EMERGENCY WAS CALLED FOR AN ARMED HOUSE BURGLARY IN PROGRESS WITH 2 GUNMEN WHO THEN TOOK OVER AN HOUR TO RESPOND ON THE LITTLE 2X3 ISLAND?

    https://youtu.be/YcE4ZUSnxYc?si=WcZiyRyqbQisSzMd

  4. David Avatar
    David

    One has to assume the BPS was stretched for resources. It is inconceivable a response of 1 hours could be otherwise explained.

  5. BAJE Avatar
    BAJE

    I RECENTLY HAD TO CALL 911 EMERGENCY NUMBER FOR A SUSPICIOUS PERSON ON EXTERNAL PROPERTY AT APPROXIMATELY 230AM. THE POLICE VEHICLE WAS THERE WITHIN 6 MINUTES. THIS IS IN A CITY OF OVER 6 MILLION POPULATION AND WAY BIGGER IN SIZE THAN THE 2X3 ISLAND.

    NEED TO STOP MAKING EXCUSES FOR LOCAL POLICE AT 3 AM IN THE EARLY MORNING ON THE 21X14 MILE ISLAND AND 300,000 POPULATION THERE IS HARDLY ANY TRAFFIC.

  6. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    Arrested.

    https://kitchener.citynews.ca/2025/06/17/doug-ford-ontario-stolen-car-etobicoke-home/

  7. Ian Bourne Avatar
    Ian Bourne

    In 1997 a prowler was outside my mother’s apartment in Hastings, I had no cellphone then, but she was able to track me down (I was at Abbeville with pals) and ON FOOT I got to Pavilion Court 45 minutes before Police eventually arrived… Still the same?

    I’m reminded of the old joke where a guy calls Police about a robber, and they say all the officers are on Patrol as it’s Saturday night. He calls back to let them know, don’t worry, he shot them. Suddenly, squad cars everywhere and they arrest the burglar. They ask the man didn’t you shoot him? He replied – I thought you all were on patrol?

    https://is.gd/246WhatsApp/

  8. David Avatar
    David

    @Airbourne

    We cannot in one breath say the BPS is undermanned by 300-400 officers and be surprised when it doesn’t respond timely to callouts.

  9. More things change Avatar
    More things change

    @ Ian Bourne

    Two women and others being robbed at gunpoint by 2 men at 3am. One women texting her neighbor whilst locked in a bathroom and 211 being contacted yet no response by police for over an hour.

    If these were shot and killed adding to the statistics it would be just another day in BIM because 300 to 400 police short. What happened to the other 1394 local policemen. Let Google or AI be your guide.

    There are 1,394 police officers in Barbados. This number translates to a rate of 489 officers per 100,000 population, according to Wikipedia.

  10. David Avatar
    David

    Your number is overstated. Before you start throwing numbers around, how many are currently on administrative or medical leave? How many are deployable? What about the working fleet of vehicles?

  11. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    A mother’s love.

    “She, however, fined him $750 forthwith or three months in prison for speeding and $1 500 for having a trafficable quantity of cannabis. Both fines were immediately paid by his mother.’

  12. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Could be love of son; could be live of money. Perhaps she partakes of the proceeds.

  13. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    “Your number is overstated. Before you start throwing numbers around, how many are currently on administrative or medical leave? How many are deployable? What about the working fleet of vehicles?”

    @ David

    It is ridiculous that police officers responded to a home invasion by two armed individuals, an hour after being called.
    Although, fortunately, the victims were not injured, there should be an investigation of this issue.

    However, it is equally ridiculous to, as you correctly mentioned, ‘throw numbers around.’

    One cannot make a broad generalisation to ‘1,394 police officers in Barbados,’ without considering individual exceptions.

    For example, officers assigned to stations are divided into three shifts.
    How many police officers were on duty at the station responsible for the geographic jurisdiction under which the complainants’ address falls?

    In addition to the examples you mentioned, we must also consider the number of officers assigned to Judges, security details for the President and Prime Minister, various units, divisions and branches within the service, as well as those performing administrative duties.

  14. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    Home invasion by 2 masked men with guns.

    Police response could be 4 police vehicles and 8 to 10 policemen.

  15. TheOG Avatar
    TheOG

    I have spoken repeatedly to my son. He is probably tired of the muttering/insanity of his old man. However, if he was to find himself in trouble (serious or not), my wife and I would support him 100%. That’s what parents are for.

    Looking at the size of the fine BDS $2000.00 (US $1000.00) a parent would have to be dirt poor/hard hearted to let his/her son go to prison for such a measly amount.

    The amount of the fines tells me that the son is not the devil incarnate.

  16. David Avatar
    David

    @Artax

    Agree our response time must improve if the BPS is to stay true to its moto to protect and serve. Bear in mind resources must be stretched in the prevailing climate given out of control crime.

  17. Enuff Avatar
    Enuff

    Bushie

    “This new KNEE-JERK version, clearly conceived in one of the Empress’s dreams, is likely just as arbitrary and ill-conceived.”

    Sir you clearly do not read, just talk. But the works in the Scotland District are ill-conceived and arbitrary too, according to you. Admits that the existing needs amending then proceeds to criticised the amendments but can’t tell why the proposed changes are arbitrary and ill-conceived. Reductive as usual. I noticed how you slipped civil court judges into the discussion. Has the increased number of judges, prosecutors etc not realised an increase in the number of criminal matters being decided?

  18. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    Criminals will always work around any technical barriers put up

    Watching US Crime on TV is probably the best way to understand the situation and future where it becomes embedded in culture. Gangs control blocks in the streets and in the jails, one is more powerful than others, but if there is any opportunity or weaknesses shown the next set of gangs will make their move.

  19. David Avatar
    David

    Please assist Amit @http://www.barbadoscrimeblog.com/ with his poll.

    Hi David,

    As I expand my work on crime and homicides in Barbados, I have decided today to launch an informal anonymous poll, seeking to ask one important question:

    How safe do you feel living in Barbados today?

    Of-course there are limitations to basic polls such as these, nonetheless, I plan on running it every June and December, starting this month as a basic barometer on how people living in Barbados feel regarding their safety over time.

    I’d be grateful if you could share the link with the BU family. I am looking for respondents who have been in Barbados for the last 12 months or more.

    Link: https://forms.gle/3UMdm5VbV7n6V5vy9

    I will close it at the end of June.

    https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfJzWBDsHWtfkBayA2ROZUCTWfhwh4O_AYRXfB1sNnp7wH2Ig/viewform?pli=1

  20. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    If my son were to deliberately find himself in serious trouble, he had better know how to get back out. I have trained up my child in the way that he should go, and if he chooses to depart from it, he needs to find his own way back. I have equipped him with ALL that he needs to have options in life. If he chooses to forget what we walked and talked about throughout his childhood, all that we spoke about even as a toddler while lying in bed at night, and all the Biblical exhortations I posted on the doors and walls in brilliant, pictorial colour, all morals of the stories we read and programmes we watched, and even the games we played, then I will love him toughly, and support him throughout his time of consequences.

    Every day that the prison doors open to me, I will be there to show my unconditional love.

    I have long told him this. I taught him his lessons the easy way. If he chooses the hard way, then he will live with his choice. And hopefully he will learn his lesson the way that he chose.

    That is what parents are for.

  21. David Avatar
    David

    Does it make sense to call for AG Dale Marshall resignation?

  22. David Avatar
    David

    The blogmaster takes no pleasure in reminding everyone – we told you so. The superficial initiatives implemented couched in political rhetoric has come back to bite us in the rear end. The bad news, unfortunately the initiatives being rolled out is not enough. We are in deep dodo.

  23. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    “We are in deep dodo.”
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
    Boss, you are beginning to sound ‘Bushie-ish’.. yuh!!
    What happened to the old optimism..?

    …anyway –
    You may wish to consider such acronyms as:
    – our ass is grass
    – we are ‘up shit street’
    – de dog done dead
    – our donkey is afire
    … and there is always Bushies’ favorite..

    What a place!!!
    LOL
    ha ha ha

  24. David Avatar
    David

    @Bush Tea

    One can be optimistic and be realistic at the same time.

    What is scary is that all the talk seem to be weighted to one side forgetting that households are responsible for creating the predicament we find ourselves.

  25. TLSN Avatar
    TLSN

    @ Bush Tea,
    I see that you are still loitering around this enclave. Can you not see, like Quaker John, that the race is done.

    Mia’s team of enforcers and hitmen and women will always have the final say.

    I trust that you read the final chapter of Animal Farm?

  26. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    @Donna June 19, 2025 at 7:10 am “If my son were to deliberately find himself in serious trouble, he had better know how to get back out. I have trained up my child in the way that he should go, and if he chooses to depart from it, he needs to find his own way back.”

    Agree.

    Furthermore you are a much better woman than me. I am not visiting anybody in prison.

  27. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    People do not find themselves in trouble.

    People go out looking for trouble. We know that. Why do we pretend otherwise?

  28. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    “MEN love the dark because their deeds are evil.”
    The Gospel according to Saint John chapter 3, verses 19-20.

    Not me speaking, but Saint John.

    let me hear all ‘o wunna say AMEN.

  29. TheOG Avatar
    TheOG

    In a few years time I will no longer be here. The one thing that will truly live on that is part of me is my son. To me tough love is akin to being suicidal or cannibalistic.

    My son may rise or may fall but my one goal is to support him. If he rises, I will cheer him on. If he falls, I will try to pick him up. I will not be bound by the usually notion of a ‘good boy’ or a ‘bad boy’
    My son
    My future

  30. David Avatar
    David

    The below is a Wade Gibbons Facebook page post.

    ——

    Wiretapping and the silencing of the lambs

    The use of wiretapping to fight organised crime is nothing new. In fact, it has proven to be a most helpful tool in dismantling criminal enterprises across the developed world. In the United States of America, for example, wiretapping in conjunction with the RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) Act has helped with the identification and prosecution of numerous criminal entities. If wiretapping were legalized in Barbados and used specifically to fight crime, there is no doubt that it could make a serious dent in criminal activity.

    There is only one major problem. This government cannot be trusted with wiretapping being used solely for the purpose it is proposing. The reality is that illegal wiretapping has been previously carried out by a very small, selected group of police officers on behalf of a politico since the mid-2000s. A late police inspector, Anderson Bowen, blew the lid off the illegal practice around 2004/2005 and basically paid for it with his career advancement and eventually his life. This country owes him a debt of eternal gratitude. Never was an act more selfless in the history of Barbados’ constabulary.

    If wiretapping had been introduced back then as a crime-fighting measure, there is the real possibility that the level of violent crime and drug trafficking in Barbados today would have been impacted significantly to the benefit of society. It does not need a tertiary level education to appreciate how legal wiretapping could be used to become a decided game-changer. There are certain flourishing criminal careers today that would have been dead in the water back then, through intelligence gathering and intervention.

    But unfortunately, rather than the authorities doing the right thing, wiretapping was used to eavesdrop for political reasons only. The phones of former prime ministers, their drivers, magistrates, police officers, senior civil servants, and politicians were bugged.

    An investigation after the government changed in the 2008 general election attempted to clean up this sordid blot on Barbados’ history, with the individual directing the wiretapping being identified. The persons who carried out the actual technical work gave evidence before a Commission of Enquiry. They spoke of the instructions they were given and with which they felt duty-bound to comply. The Commission wrote extensively on the matter.

    Sadly, those with the power to place the main instigator of this illegal wiretapping before the law courts refused to do so, perhaps to save an organization from further public embarrassment. It was a terrible misjudgment!

    The government changed in 2018, and the status quo reportedly returned. One could not be faulted if one assumed that illegal wiretapping was restarted. Who knows? What is known, though, is that threats and intimidation to persons and to the media have led to a situation where attempts have been made to sweep this sinister episode under the carpet. The report of the Commission of Enquiry, signed off on by former Governor General Sir Elliot Belgrave, gives chapter and verse of the abuse of power by public officials. Such has been the abuse and influence of certain personalities in this country that an attempt was even made through the law courts to seal the document from public scrutiny. Can you imagine that? But such documents frequently fall from trucks or fly through government windows.

    If wiretapping is reintroduced legally, it must not once again be used for political reasons and should be under strict, multiple police management and be utilised only through a magistrate or judge-issued warrant. If authorities had not previously usurped the rights of Barbadians with illegal wiretapping, one could easily and unreservedly support the decision to introduce legislated wiretapping. But the question of trust with this government remains. The government has shown that political victimization is alive and well. Bajans have good reason to be scared to speak out against this government. If wiretapping is not used for the purpose that is being stated, the ensuing silence in Barbados could become deafening. The government continues to present a clear and present danger to democracy in Barbados, and Barbadians could further become like lambs in their own country.

    Owen Arthur, who suspected that he too was a victim of wiretapping, was not motivated by spite when he warned Barbadians about the threat to their democracy. He was afraid. He was petrified for his offspring, possible grandchildren, and family in general. He was afraid for the future of Barbadians – Bees and Dees. He feared that Barbadians might be swept away, cajoled and fooled by one-liners, cliches, anecdotes, handouts, bravado, empty rhetoric, borrowed quips, and sweet-sounding garbled logic. Arthur was scared as hell, perhaps even on his dying bed. And, likely, it was not the fear of death. Who knows?

    Let’s hope legislated wiretapping is used for the right reasons this time around.

  31. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    @Wade Gibbons “be utilised only through a magistrate or judge-issued warrant”

    And what if a magistrate or judge is a member of the same lodge, what we ordinary Bajans call secret orders as the political party in office at the time?

    What then?

    Don’t lodge brothers/secret order members not usually support each other right or wrong? Or am I to believe that lodge brothers never do wrong?

  32. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    @Wade Gibbons “Owen Arthur, who suspected that he too was a victim of wiretapping, was not motivated by spite when he warned Barbadians about the threat to their democracy.”

    My response: And how do you know Arthur was not motivated by spite. Did he tell you so? And if so how de we know when a politico is telling the truth? Do politicians always tell the truth?

    @Wade Gibbons “He was afraid. He was petrified for his offspring, possible grandchildren, and family in general.”

    My response: Why was he afraid of his own long time associates? At what time did this fear begin?

    @Wade Gibbons “He was afraid for the future of Barbadians – Bees and Dees. He feared that Barbadians might be swept away, cajoled and fooled by one-liners, cliches, anecdotes, handouts, bravado, empty rhetoric, borrowed quips, and sweet-sounding garbled logic.”

    My response: Understand Wade that we Bajans are not easily fooled by one-liners, cliches, anecdotes, handouts, bravado, empty rhetoric, borrowed quips, and sweet-sounding garbled logic. We got rid of Grantley Adams, Errol Barrow, Bree St. John, Tom Adams, Erskine Sandiford, David Thompson, Owen Arthur, Fruendel Stuart. When we are good and ready we will also get rid of this lot too, because the 12% or so of us who are not B nor D, don’t care anything about any political party. We vote conscience ALL of the time.

    @Wade Gibbons “Arthur was scared as hell, perhaps even on his dying bed. And, likely, it was not the fear of death.”

    And you know this how? Did Arthur tell you so? No point being afraid on the dying bed. No man nor woman has any authority over the dead. Death says, “De powa stops here?” And in any event as Jesus called Arthur home, as he will one day call you, me and everybody “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

    Jesus was welcoming Arthur to his eternal home. No reason to be afraid.

    Unless he was really afraid of the down below guy? Was he?

  33. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    A neighbor, a long time employee of a telecommunications company used to evesdrop on me. Illegally of course. I prayed “Lord relieve me of this man.” He was a lodge member too. Powful foolish. Come Covid, one minute he was there, the next he was as they say gone to the other side.

    Amen.

    My God is good. My God is all powerful.

  34. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    @ David

    This is the first time I’ve seen and read Wade Gibbons’ Facebook post.

    Known him for years…… since school days.

    He was a very good detective and, in Bajan parlance, ‘know wuh he talking ’bout.’

    However, after reading Cuhdear Bajan responses to his comments, all I can ‘say’ is, “cuhdear, she means well.”

  35. David Avatar
    David

    @Artax

    Sometimes less is more.

  36. TLSN Avatar
    TLSN

    @ David,
    This is what a fourth estate should look and sound like. May I present the George Galloway show.

    duck://player/ImmE0kMkDMU

    https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCf_HItERkRB3vnkWt2RSOLg

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