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From the ‘Lost Decade’ to ‘Bloody Decade’

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As Barbados continues to reel from the carnage left by the criminal element and the Barbados Police Service (BPS) scramble from pillar to post in a frantic effort to serve and protect our once idyllic island paradise – the fear of living ‘our’ way of life has been irrapably compromised. Grave doubts have arisen whether the leadership of the island with the support of civic minded citizens have the ability to bring the crime wave under control.

It is Saturday, 21 June 2025, and the blogmaster taps away at tired keys on a laptop, each keystroke a routine that feels less like expression and more like a hollow action. In recent months, the blogmaster’s laptop has become a chronicle of seemingly robotic insights regarding rising crime situation in the country. The latest reported shooting in the Prime Minister’s constituency at 5th Avenue, Peterkin Road, Bank Hall, St. Michael fuels another numb thought.

The rampant violent crime has tainted Barbados’ reputation, once known for safety and serenity. Should it continue on current trajectory, it will threaten our ability to feed ourselves because, after all, we are a country over reliant on a service economy. How ironic that once upon a time Barbados was envied by many as a small well governed predominantly Black country. It seems a hollow boast of late since the Mottley government won government in 2018 on a campaign theme that the Democratic Labour Party opposition was responsible for a Lost Decade. Now TwiddleD and TwiddleB can feel comfortable singing from the same hymn hymnsheet.

The Pine and St. Michael: A Closer Look at Homicide Patterns
See analysis completed by Amit at Barbados Crime blog. – Source: Barbados Crime Blog

Since 2018 the country is on track to record 300+ murders by the end of 2025. An average of 40+ per year.

“The darkest hour has only sixty minutes.” 

— Morris Mandel

In desperate times, hope is not a luxury, it is a lifeline. It gives people the strength to endure hardship, to believe that suffering is not the final chapter. Hope fuels resilience, sparks action, and allows communities to imagine a future beyond crisis. Without it, despair takes root, freezing minds and hearts. Where is that flicker of hope to inspire courage, unity, and healing to originate?

Where is the hope of Barbadians to come from?

Three more years to earn the label_the Bloody Decade.

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75 responses to “From the ‘Lost Decade’ to ‘Bloody Decade’”

  1. John2 Avatar
    John2

    There is now enuff reason for cops to pull over EVERY motorcycle especially those with 2 riders

  2. David Avatar
    David

    On the brink!

    Bradshaw, Abrahams warn of new crime wave

    BARBADOS IS AT a tipping point in its fight against crime, and only a united, all-of-society response can pull the nation back from the brink.

    That was the message delivered by Deputy Prime Minister Santia Bradshaw and Minister of Home Affairs Wilfred Abrahams at a Barbados Labour Party (BLP) Christ Church East branch meeting last night at St Christopher Primary School, as they issued a joint plea for national mobilisation against rising gun violence, drug abuse and social breakdown.

    They were speaking hours after a shooting spree by four men on two motorcycles in two St Michael districts in the afternoon resulted in another homicide, the 26th for the year and seventh in this month alone.

    The fatal shooting of a young man – whose identity was not released up to press time – occurred around 2:48 p.m. at the junction of Whitehall Main Road and St Stephen’s Hill, with another man suffering gunshot wounds and being taken to hospital.

    A short time before, a security video captured four men on two motorcycles riding through Nelson Street, The City, spraying bullets, with one of them holding a large gun. Some buildings and vehicles were left bullet-riddled.

    “This is no longer a partisan issue. This is Barbados,” Abrahams declared, warning that the country is facing a new, more dangerous wave of crime driven by synthetic drugs and irrational, violent behaviour.

    “We are trying to use rational thinking to deal with irrational people – and it’s not working.”

    Both ministers painted a grim picture of communities fraying under the weight of addiction, trauma and lawlessness, with Bradshaw speaking emotionally about burying young men from her own St Michael South East constituency and others she had known for decades.

    “Every time I hear about another shooting, it’s like a blow to the gut,” she said. “It’s not a statistic, it’s somebody’s son, somebody’s neighbour, and too often, someone I know.”

    The Deputy Prime Minister, visibly moved as she spoke, revealed that of the 25 homicides reported in Barbados just days earlier, she personally knew at least 20 of the victims.

    “This is no longer something you read in a paper or see online. This is our reality. It’s our communities, our children, our neighbours, and we are becoming numb to it.”

    Bradshaw issued a direct challenge to Barbadians: “What are you doing to help stop this? Not the Government, you. What are you doing to pull a young man off the block, to give a child a pair of football boots, to help someone start a business, to show them that they matter?”

    She said Government’s efforts, no matter how robust, could not succeed without community partnership.

    “We talk about a whole-of-Government approach, but what we need is a whole-of-country response. The Government can’t do this alone. We don’t live in your homes. We don’t know what’s happening in your streets, but you do.”

    Abrahams, who is also Member of Parliament for Christ Church East, urged Barbadians to stop “turning a blind eye” and to speak up about the illegal activities and dangerous influences festering in their own homes and neighbourhoods. He revealed disturbing stories from recent school visits, including a student who asked what to do if the person pressuring him to use drugs was a family member living in the same house.

    “We are dealing with a generation exposed to substances they don’t even understand,” he said. “We have a drug abuse problem that is linked directly to the robberies and the shootings. Some of these people are not in their right minds. If we don’t confront that

    MPs: Everyone has role to play reality, then we are deluding ourselves.”

    He also expressed frustration with public complacency, noting that many citizens hesitate to report known criminal activity.

    “If you know something and you say nothing, and a tragedy happens, then you are part of the problem too.” The minister pointed to initiatives by the National Council on Substance Abuse and other Government bodies, but lamented that many parents did not even know what synthetic drugs looked like.

    To bridge that gap, he announced that within two weeks, a nationwide campaign will be launched to expose the dangers of synthetic cannabinoids and other illicit substances.

    “The whole of Barbados is going to know exactly what these drugs do – and how they’re killing our youth.”

    Bradshaw criticised the “unequal burden” placed on lower-income communities in the response to gun crime. While she voiced support for police operations, including roadblocks and searches, she cautioned against disproportionately targeting areas like The Pine in her constituency, which have historically been stigmatised.

    “If the guns are coming in through ports, then stop pretending that it’s only young men in working-class communities who are the problem,” she said. “None of the young men in my constituency are importing guns into this country.”

    Both ministers drew a direct connection between youth disaffection and the absence of community support systems.

    The two closed with a joint appeal: put down the politics, step up for the country.

    “We are not just MPs or Cabinet members,” Bradshaw said. “We are parents, neighbours, mentors – and we are tired – tired of the funerals, tired of the helplessness, tired of the silence. We’re asking the rest of the country to feel that tiredness too, and to do something.” ( CLM)

    Source: Nation

  3. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    @John2 June 22, 2025 at 11:52 pm “There is now enuff reason for cops to pull over EVERY motorcycle especially those with 2 riders.”

    At 3:13 this morning they woke me up riding fast and furious on the main road close to my home. I am fairly certain they did not go to work on Sunday and won’t be going to work today either, and yet they “own” bikes and have the money to buy gas, pay insurance and do maintenance.

    And if they are not paying insurance why do the police and MTW permit them to remain on the road?

  4. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    I disagree entirely with the Deputy PM. She is asking we the law abiding to give more and more and more. Perhaps she should be asking the bad boys to give more. What are the bad boys giving to society? They are young, strong and healthy. Do the bad boys ever offer to help any of the old weak and sick in the community? And if not, why not? Since the bad boys all seem to have transportation do they ever offer to bring home the groceries for the old, sick and weak in the community? Do they offer to do 2 hours of yard work per week for an elder. After all a week has 168 hours, and 2 hours is a small amount to give, leaving plenty of time to do their regular foolishness, or to murder their perceived enemies. Do the bad boys even wash the dishes in the homes in which they live? Do they mop the floors? Do they wash their own underwear? Do they wash their sheets?

    Sometimes we give too much and THE PEOPLE TO WHOM WE HAVE GIVEN HAVE BECOME ENTITLED AND WANT MORE, MORE, MORE. This applies to politicians too, who win a seat and then want to remain in Parliament forever. How many politicians take the time and effort to mentor the next generation of politicians, or do the current politicians, BOTH B and D hope to remain in Parliament forever? Do they want another turn in Parliament? Perhaps they too want more, more, more?

    I am telling the Deputy PM that I have given 70 units of my blood, some perhaps to save her own health, and more than $100,000 of my own hard earned money, and countless, countless hours of my time, and that I will NOT be giving a drop more, nor a minute more, nor a cent more. I DONE. If I live I live. If I die, I die. It is all the same to me now.

    I think that our political class need to spot de lite on dey blinking self,
    and perhaps they also need to stop “sucking-up” to the bad boys who have no love nor respect for them.

  5. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    What a place!!!
    “He also expressed frustration with public complacency, noting that many citizens hesitate to report known criminal activity.”
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Ralph Thorne is not only a citizen, he is the LOTO and a senior lawyer. HE reported criminal activity in the highest court of the place, HOPING for a response…
    The POLICE became aware of a stolen cheque that SHOULD have been investigated – given the OBVIOUS contradictions…

    Wuh shiite!!
    If there was ’nothing to see from that cheque issue’….
    If Thorne is wasting his time reporting crime of such magnitude…
    … Can there be any REAL surprise that many citizens are complacent?

    These politicians are TRULY delusional and hypocritical – to expect that citizens will be respectful of the Laws and rules, while THEY do as they like in pursuing easy illegal monies and gifts…

    @ Simple Simon
    Your disdain of David is noted… however,
    While you may have your own very good reasons for hating men and sex, it was created as a powerful force to ensure the survival of the species – DESPITE the inclinations of persons of your ilk, and of Petra’s.

    Who knows…?
    Perhaps you may even understand the situation better than God does, …but God DID proclaim David to have been a man AFTER HIS OWN HEART.
    There is a small chance that YOU may be simplistic in your overall assessment of the situation…
    Just saying…

  6. David Avatar
    David

    ALL actors in civil society have to put their shoulders to the plough. It does not mean we should give government and the BPS a pass but citizens who have information must speak up as well. Isn’t it ironic that many of the 24 ‘leaders’ appointed sit on this crime council Newton just resigned from chairing complain didn’t find time to attend meetings?

  7. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    @ Simple Simon “Your disdain of David is noted…however, While you may have your own very good reasons for hating men and sex”

    Where did you ever get the idea that I hated men and sex?

    Just like you I hate adultery.
    Just like you I hate rape.

    But I will never join you in calling an adulterous murderer “basically a good man”

  8. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    Barbados from the year dot had always been a prison,
    sometimes prisoners will riot in revolution for payback,
    if they’re serving life sentences they have little to lose.

    you cannot distinguish crime and society, unemployment lack of opportunity, slummy ghetto, etc

    spending on social public services will need increasing
    as does spending on prisons and rehabilitation service

    (as a side note: the pussy versus cocky foreplay dancing song is a distraction)

    Hands And Hearts, Ottenthot, Overloader

  9. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    https://barbadostoday.bb/2025/06/22/recent-attack-on-nurse-not-isolated-says-nursing-association/

  10. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    At this point in time, Bush Tea is no different from those who cry anti-Semitism when you condemn the genocide in Gaza.

    I have often heard Cuhdear Bajan express her love for good men and good sex. Yet, here he is again, misleading the blog.

    Thank goodness that when it comes to the Bible, I don’t have to believe the stories to believe in the principles of Jesus. All I have to know is that if all of humankind treated each other the way he prescribed, so many of our problems would not be.

    It therefore makes sense to aspire to follow those principles as much as is possible in the circumstances.

    The stories written by men to suit their agenda – you could miss me with all that! They don’t make sense.

    And they lead those who cling dogmatically to every word to abandon logic.

  11. Terence Blackett Avatar
    Terence Blackett

    BAJANS PEOPLE YOUR GOODS & SERVICES ARE ABOUT TO GET EVEN MORE EXPENSIVE – AS OIL PRICES ARE SET 2 SKYROCKET 2 POSSIBLY A $120/BARREL WHICH WILL SEE AN INCREASE IN VIOLENT CRIMINALITY, DROP IN LIVING STANDARDS & A HOST OF OTHER MISERABLE VARIABLES

    The Iranian Parliament just “VOTED” to close the #StraitOfHormuz!!!

    WHAT WILL BE THE EFFECT OF SUCH A MOVE???

    #FactOrFiction – will it assault sensibilities???

    #StayTuned

  12. David Avatar
    David

    A couple questions for COP Richard Boyce: what measure are you using to determine that we have not reached the point to implement a curfew. Are you sure public cameras are working, if this is the case why lawlessness on the roads go largely unchallenged especially with the PSV sector?

  13. Terence Blackett Avatar
    Terence Blackett

    BARBADOS DOES NOT HAVE A DRUG PROBLEM OR A GUN PROBLEM OR ANY OTHER PROBLEM FOR THAT MATTER – THE #RootCausalLink 2 ALL YOUR PROBLEMS STEM FROM THE FATAL, STINKING LIES THAT YOU EXPECT YOUNG PEOPLE 2 SWALLOW – WHILE YOU DO THE OPPOSITE LAW OF DISTRACTION – INSINUATING, DO AS I SAY & NOT AS I DO

    What y’all are living thru’ today is the “SYMPTOMOLOGY” – the “MAL-EFFECTS” of a system of “DAMNABLE, HERETICAL LIES” & A SYSTEM OF SENSELESS DEMOCRATIC TOPARCY which has not “DECOLONIZED” the mindz of our “YOUNG ONEs” & the rest of our people “STUCK @ ZERO”!!!

    #EverythingIsALIE*

    #TheSystemIsALie

    #WhatWeAreMade2BelieveIsALie*

    #HumansAreLIARS*

    #WhatYouEatIsBasedOnALie

    #WhatYouDrinkIsBasedOnALie

    #EverythingYouSeeIsALie

    LIES*, DAMN LIES** & “ROCK ‘N’ ROLL”

  14. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    Make Love Not War
    Tune In Turn On Drop Out
    It is the Summer of Love for youths in festivals smoking tripping and making love.
    It is the Summer of War for youths stupid enough to enlist to be sacrificed like pawns for stupid old men who crave power in Babylon.
    There are only one couple of women in the Bu fambily posting nowadays and they’re here to cuss out cussed old men
    — Prince of Peace

  15. Terence Blackett Avatar
    Terence Blackett

    33rd DEGREE FREEMASON – ALBERT PIKE WROTE THAT WHAT WE ARE SEEING IN 2025 & DURING MY GRANDFATHER’S TIME ON THE FRONTLINES IN EUROPE DURING NAZI OCCUPATION & EVEN AS FAR BACK AS #WW1 WAS ALL CAREFULLY PLANNED SINCE THE 1800s!!!

    IRAN RETALIATES BY BOMBING QATAR #First; LET’S SEE WHO’S NEXT UP!!!

    SEE: https://threeworldwars.com/

    I have been warning that #TheHolyScriptures can be trusted implicitly!!!

    This is what the #SovereignLordSays through the #ProphetJeremiah in chapter 51: 27 – 30 –

    “Set ye up a standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, prepare the nations against her, call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz; appoint a captain against her; cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillars…”

    “Prepare against her the nations with the “KING OF THE MEDES”, the captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the land of his dominion…”

    “And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant…”

    “The mighty men of Babylon have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwelling-places; her bars are broken…”

    PROPHECY CANNOT LIE*

    HUMANS DO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  16. Terence Blackett Avatar
    Terence Blackett

    LOOK @ THE HYPOCRIPS & HYPOCRAPS IN THE UK HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT – WHAT A GHASTLY SITE 2 BEHOLD

    SEE:

  17. Artax Avatar
    Artax

    “ALL actors in civil society have to put their shoulders to the plough.”

    @ David

    Despite the fact police may use, for example, CCTV footage, digital evidence gathered from smartphones, tablets or computer downloads and forensic analysis to assist them in investigating and solving crime……

    …… statements from victims, witnesses, informants and tips from anonymous individuals who, according to you, are “ALL ACTORS IN CIVIL SOCIETY,” also play an integral part in police investigations.

    However, there are various reasons why people may be a bit reluctant in providing the police with information or testifying in Court, such as intimidation, fear the police may divulge personal information to criminals or retaliation against them and their loved ones by the associates of those persons arrested and charged with committing serious crimes.

    Perhaps those are among some of the reasons that may have also contributed to the increase in anonymous tips to Crime Stoppers.

    Additionally, Barbados is a small society from which police officers are chosen…… the same society where ‘almost everyone knows everyone.’

    David, I’m sure you and other BU contributors heard of situations in which, for example, people who violate traffic laws, such as speeding or illegal parking, having their Court cases dismissed as a result of either personally knowing a police officer or someone who does.

    Also recall a police officer was charged with forging and issuing police certificates of character.

    Therefore, I believe it is important we understand the factors influencing public perception of policing in Barbados, especially as it relates to having trust and confidence in the police service.

    Obviously, without trust and confidence of the public, police officers would be seriously limited in their ability to perform their duties.

  18. Donna Avatar
    Donna

    Wait, wait, WAIT! When did Donna ever show a tendency to denigrate black men??????

    And why is it that TLSN has absolutely NOTHING to say when Bush Tea and Redguard constantly denigrate women?

    I pride myself on being fair and balanced, simply because it makes no sense to be otherwise. Both men and women have their issues. Pointing out typically male issues from a feminine perspective is not denigrating males, especially black ones.

    I am not here and have never been here to place all blame on either men or women.

    Unlike Bush Tea, who would blame the lowly Bathheba for the dirty deeds of men like KING David, who commanded HIS SUBJECT Bathsheba into his presence to satisfy HIS royal lust and, after failing to hoodwink her husband into wearing a ready-made jacket, engineered his death.

    So then, if this David was “basically a good man”, a man after God’s own heart, chosen for leadership, and yet could be so easily led astray by a woman… where are we to find the worthy, non-shite men that Bush Tea believes should be in leadership today?

    It would appear that not even God could find one even way back then!

    Every bad thing that happened since the imaginary Eve offered the imaginary Adam the imaginary fruit is blamed on women.

    Very convenient for weak men who wish to excuse their deficiencies. Strong men own up and course correct.

    And as for Redguard, he continues to describe a nineteen year old virgin as “a nun”, and implied that my son must be a homosexual because he can control his sexual urges.

    We can therefore assume that Redguard believes that the problem in society is responsible young women and men who prefer to have children when they are equipped to care for them.

    Make the musings of misogyny make sense!

    But I continue to ask – why are we wasting time on this NONSENSE? We have to find a way to address this problem of lethal, violent crime, which, as statistics show, is overwhelmingly perpetrated by men and boys on men and boys. These are boys and men who are mostly being raised by women, in the absence of their fathers.

    Now, some would say that the women need to keep their legs closed until they meet a good man, and some would say that the men need to keep their penis in their pants until they are ready to be a good father. Or at least, they should both use contraceptives.

    A smart person would say that we should aim for both while dealing with the facts of life. Human beings have failings. Government and society as a whole need to make up for the human failings of unprepared parents or we will ALL suffer the consequences.

    Facts I learnt from Cheryl Willoughby twenty-five years ago –
    Ninety percent of the men in our prison did not have a reliable father or sometimes even the name of their father in their lives.

    Fact I learnt from Cheryl Willoughby only a few days ago –
    Most of the many many men in our prison read at the level of a THREE YEAR OLD.

    I have taught three year olds. That is “B is for ball” level. That is a failure of the educational system. We cannot blame their lack of reading skills on those who were very obviously left behind and abandoned at THREE YEARS OLD! Imagine how that must have felt, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year! THE HUMILIATION! THE DESPAIR! Not one person cared?????? Why then should they care about us?

    So, it is wrong for Cuhdear Bajan to ask these young men to give back to a society that has done NOTHING for them since the age of three.

    The question is – wuh WE gun do now?

  19. David Avatar
    David

    @Artax

    Agree, trust has to be rebuilt between many state actors and the public. Another example you could have used: BPS pushing the crimestoppers hotline instead of 211.

  20. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    @Donna “And as for Redguard, he continues to describe a nineteen year old virgin as “a nun”, and implied that my son must be a homosexual because he can control his sexual urges.”

    Don’t mind Redgard. I was a virgin at 19 too, and at 20 and 21 etc. I was determined not to become a parent until I was ready to do the hard work of being an excellent mother. Didn’t want to take the risk of contraceptive failure. Didn’t want to hear any man say of me “she went and get sheself pregnant.” I have since raised excellent children. And I have the pleasure now of helping to raise the most excellent grandchildren. I was a loving and present daughter to my parents in their declining years. Worked for my own dollar for more that 40 years. Never had to be a “gimmee, gimmee woman.” I enjoy excellent relationships with my siblings, including my brother, my sons in law, my 6 nephews, my male and female cousins. I am happy and healthy at well past 70. Virginity is not like a gun. Virginity has never killed anybody yet lol!, nor given an STI to anybody. Bush Tea, Redguard, TLSN etc. are idiots who should stay off BU and spend more time mentoring their sons, grandsons and the misled young men in their communities, instead of worrying about the sexual status of strangers.

  21. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    Donna if the men in our prison and the ones on the way there are illiterate then we in real-real trouble.

  22. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    My not yet 3 year old grand knows shapes, colors, numbers and letters, and the difference between a brontosaurus and a stegosaurus but of course cannot yet read, but is read to everyday by parents, by older sibling or by me.

    I learned not to underestimate small children, when a 4 year old great nephew “shamed” me at the zoo because I did not know the difference between a hippopotamus and a rhinoceros. I learned my lesson that day. I’ve never forgotten.

  23. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    @David June 23, 2025 at 12:51 pm “A couple questions for COP Richard Boyce: what measure are you using to determine that we have not reached the point to implement a curfew.”

    Maybe there is already a self imposed curfew. Typically I can hear traffic at night, but except for motorcycles foreday Monday morning, up by by me real-real quiet. Looks like people staying in at night.

  24. Amit Uttamchandani Avatar
    Amit Uttamchandani

    Fatal shooting earlier this evening. #27 for the year, 8 for June. Updated in the database (awaiting details on victim name and age):

    https://data.barbadoscrimeblog.com/custom_report.php?year=2025&gender=&parish=&month=&how=&ww_we=&day=&time_period=

  25. John2 Avatar
    John2

    Not curfew but state of emergency. TBPS is way behind and not catching up

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