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When the State Salutes Itself

Richard Boyce Carlos Lovell

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Submitted by PB

Commissioner of Police Richard Boyce received the Order of the Republic in 2025. He was honoured for “exemplary leadership” dedication, and commitment to public service in maintaining peace and public safety, fostering trust within communities, and upholding law and order.

Brigadier Carlos Lovell, Chief of Staff of the Barbados Defence Force also received the Order of the Republic in 2025 for demonstrated leadership, discipline, service and dedication to national security, including roles in crisis response and disaster relief. Awarding the Order of the Republic to police or army leaders in an autocratic regimes often signals a deliberate effort to reward loyalty, consolidate control, and normalize the centrality of security forces in national life. Democracy‑vs. Authoritarianism Tension (if present.

In democratic contexts, such honours are normal. But when power is more centralized, granting top honours to security heads can become a way to normalize an elevated role for the military/police in civic life. It may raise concerns among civil society if it seems to be part of concentrating power, reducing oversight, or limiting dissent. 

In April 2025, the Barbados government passed an amendment which makes the Chief of Staff of the Barbados Defence Force and the Commissioner of Police automatically recipients of the Order of the Republic. 

May god help this country

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19 responses to “When the State Salutes Itself”

  1. David Avatar
    David

    Awardees humbled by national honours

    Three leaders in law, order and discipline were yesterday counted among the highest honourees in the land.

    In front of family and Cabinet members, Chief Justice Leslie Francis Haynes, Commissioner of Police Richard Alphonzo Boyce and Chief of Staff of the Barbados Defence Force (BDF) Brigadier General Carlos Andréz Ronaldo Lovell were awarded by President of Barbados, The Most Honourable Dame Sandra Mason, inside State House.

    Highest honour

    Haynes was awarded the highest national honour, the Order of Freedom of Barbados, which has replaced the Knight (or Dame) of St Andrew since Barbados became a republic in 2021. He will now carry the epithet The Most Honourable.

    The Chief Justice has been honoured for his “significant contributions to the legal framework and social stability of the nation by upholding the rule of law, maintaining the integrity of the legal system, protecting citizens’ rights and ensuring that the Constitution is interpreted and applied impartially, safeguarding the country’s judicial independence and overseeing the administration of justice to ensure fair and equitable access”.

    In his acceptance speech, Haynes said he was humbled by the honour and determined more than ever to do his utmost to maintain and improve the administration of justice.

    “This honour today reemphasises and reinvigorates so that tomorrow morning, next week, every day, once you go to your office, you ensure that all that can be done on that particular day will be done. The President, Madam Prime Minister and the Cabinet have put a lot of trust in me, and it is my duty to ensure that that trust is not misplaced,” he said.

    Boyce was awarded Barbados’ second-highest honour, the Order of the Republic (which has replaced the Companion of Honour), for “exemplary leadership, dedication and commitment to public service in maintaining peace and public safety, fostering trust within communities, leading the police service to prevent and respond to crimes, ensuring safe environments for all citizens and contributing to the social fabric of the country by upholding law and order”.

    Boyce also described the experience as humbling, dedicating the award to the entirety of the Barbados Police Service – those living, dead and retired – as well as his family who stood by him day and night.

    Trust

    “So today, I accept this privileged accolade on behalf of each and every member of the organisation; those who come to work and do [their duty] and go over and beyond all expectations. So I want to say again, tremendous heartfelt thanks to the persons who selected me. I will not betray the trust which you have put in me in this capacity as Commissioner of Police,” he added.

    It was a bittersweet occasion for Lovell, who also received the Order of the Republic. He was awarded for “demonstrated leadership, discipline, service and dedication to national security, ensuring the protection of the nation’s sovereignty, integrity and security, commanding the military forces and overseeing strategic defence planning, crisis response and disaster relief efforts”.

    Lovell’s family was absent from the ceremony as they are in mourning. Earlier, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley revealed that 18-year-old Josiah Carmichael, who died in a vehicular accident on Wednesday in the The Garden, St James, was his nephew.

    Lovell said: “This award I dedicate to the young men and women across Barbados who were in the same situation as my nephew, Josiah Carmichael – trying hard to make a living, trying hard to make a difference, trying hard to rise above the circumstances. And to each and every one of them, I say to you that it is possible. I am a living testimony to the fact that it is possible to rise above the circumstances.

    “Whether you are on the right path or not, whether you have made a few mistakes in life, be the change that you want to be; you can make this country proud as well. I know the quality of the Barbadian people and I have faith and confidence that we can all grow together and continue to make this country great,” he added.

    The three were congratulated by Dame Sandra and Mottley.

    The Prime Minister said Haynes had an “absolute love” of the law; Boyce was a top criminal investigator who was responsible for containing some of the criminal element bent on disturbing society and creating victims; and Lovell was a young man who brought training, passion and discipline to the job.

    Mottley urged the BDF and the police service to keep working with youth, such as the cadets, sea cadets and Barbados YouthADVANCE Corps.

    (CA)

    Source: Nation

  2. David Avatar
    David

    It’s hard to take these awards seriously. The Commissioner has presided over a period marked by high crime. The BDF’s role remains largely ceremonial. And the Chief Justice hasn’t been in office long enough to effect meaningful change in the court system. If we’re truly committed to building a meritocracy, this isn’t how we show it.

  3. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    ” If we’re truly committed to building a meritocracy, this isn’t how we show it.”
    ~~~~~~~~
    What if we were building a mafia…?

  4. David Avatar
    David

    While we engage in platitudinous behaviour, this is the Barbados that we are living.

    WHITHER BARBADOS?

    DPP concerned after another murder accused freed as witnesses recant

    By Heather-Lynn Evanson heatherlynevanson@nationnews.com

    For the second time in as many weeks, a murder case has been upended and an accused set free because crucial eyewitnesses have recanted their police statements.

    It has left the island’s top prosecutor asking “Whither Barbados?” and a senior defence attorney calling for more forensic evidence and the speedier prosecution of cases.

    “Where are we heading when citizens refuse to do their job?” Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Alliston Seale, SC, asked.

    “Case after case, the police have spent hours investigating. We have spent hours preparing the prosecution only for witnesses to come and recant, or for witnesses to conveniently can’t remember anything that is pertinent to the case and people are losing their lives daily.

    “So if the public doesn’t want to do their civic duty, it’s entirely up to them, but I hasten to say if they think Barbados bad now, wait and see,” he warned.

    The development came in the trial of Rhondi Ricardo ‘Dabs’ Dabreo in the No. 4 Supreme Court on Thursday.

    Dabreo, of Sea View Road, St Philip, was charged with murdering Erskine Wilbert Gunning, formerly of Paddock Road, St Michael, on March 30, 2015.

    He was represented by Senior Counsel Angella Mitchell-Gittens, who successfully argued that Dabreo had no case to answer.

    Justice Laurie-Ann Smith-Bovell, who directed the jury to return a formal verdict of not guilty, told them: “Sometimes things intervene, evidence may not reach the standard required and, in those circumstances, the law applies.”

    She then told Dabreo he was free to go.

    Seale, who prosecuted with Principal State Counsel Rudolph Burnett, said the “growing trend” was of concern to him.

    “Witnesses have a duty to perform and I’ve noticed a growing trend in Barbados when witnesses decide to say one thing at one stage and say another thing at another stage, or have little to say even though they have witnessed things,” he said.

    “Their time will come when they want somebody to speak on their behalf when it touches and concerns them and people will remain silent because we have a code of silence in Barbados nowadays.”

    He noted the two eyewitnesses in the matter were in the house at the time of the incident but at “the most crucial point, all of them looked away and were doing something else”.

    “The most crucial evidence that we need, people decide ‘I ain’t see that point’. When it comes time to come and give the evidence to support the case, because these two men are friends with each other, they come now and recant. I said before, Whither Barbados?”

    The DPP said the Government could do no more.

    “Government doesn’t solve crime. Government is there to provide the enabling legislation and all the other things, but it is for witnesses who see, to say exactly what they saw and let the truth be decided in court,” he stressed.

    Mitchell-Gittens said “time was not a good thing in these matters”.

    She noted it was her experience that the more time that elapsed between charging and trial, “something will happen”.

    “So what we should be looking to do is bring these matters to trial as quickly as possible.”

    Mitchell-Gittens further pointed out that one key to a successful case was forensic evidence.

    “We cannot predict what will happen to a person but forensic evidence will not change and it should not,” she said, adding such evidence will aid both sides.

    “So we need to move into the 21st century with our investigations. It cannot be that police just sit down and take a statement and that is it.”

    Justice Smith-Bovell said the two issues – witnesses doing their duty and more forensic evidence – were joined.

    “If we have the best forensics that we can have and the witnesses don’t say anything, then we are no further.

    “We need a symbiotic relationship where we progress at the same rate, at the same time. Yes, we need forensics. Yes, we need technology, but we need society to take a position that this is the standard that we are willing to accept and we will play our part,” the judge said.

    It was two weeks ago that Adrian Ryan Jones, of Enterprise Main Road, Christ Church, and Jamal Omar Anthony Maynard, of St Paul’s Avenue, Bayville, St Michael, were formally discharged after Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Krystal Delaney explained the lack of an eyewitness’ evidence, who recanted his statement to police, coupled with the fact that neither of the two men had given confession statements – with Jones saying he was a victim having himself been shot and Maynard declaring he was never involved – were compounded by the lack of transcripts to complement the video recordings of the interviews done by police of the two men.

    The two had been accused of murdering 20-year-old Shae Hackett, formerly of Dunlow Lane, Bay Street, St Michael, on September 6, 2021.

  5. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    “DPP concerned after another murder accused freed as witnesses recant
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    So wunna playing that wunna don’t know how a mafia operates…?
    Actions have consequences…
    …as does LACK of action.

  6. Pachamama Avatar
    Pachamama

    Wow!

    We are left to wonder how any of these marginal, local issues, could be front of mind when there is a global war theatre brewing 200 miles away.

    Maybe this writer was too schooled under the maxim that war was and is how Europeans best organized correlations of forces and means.

    We wonder, what plans the regime in Bridgetown has in worst case scenarios or are we merely hoping for the best outcome. Even given the past actions of those now enchonced at promoting hybrid warfarism in the region.

    This mindset of fecklessness, of media most fowl, happens as the United Nations Security Council meets about war in the Caribbean.

    Maybe, Bushie’s god is still a Bajan so He will do the babysitting while weeee talk shiiiite about the petite bourgoise and refuse to plan for all possible outcomes, or even refuse to demand such plans from addled-headed political mistresses.

  7. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    LOL @ Pacha
    What plans do pawns make when kings, queens and knights engage?

    We can’t even come up with a ‘battle plan’ against pot holes or casualty management…
    What the Hell ‘planning’ we can do in the face of a war between global demons?

    Steupsss…
    Why don’t you let sleeping brass bowls lay nuh!!??
    We ‘Gatherin ‘ this year …and we ‘re-gathering’ for our 60th bd next year…
    Wuh more yuh want…?!!

    …and again, Bushie don’t have no god…!! More like God has a bushman…
    The Creator adopted a BB and created ‘Bushie wid a whacker’ some years ago…
    dat subsequently get tek way…. !! 🙂

    You sound jealous as shiite doh yuh..!!!
    LOL
    ha ha ha

  8. David Avatar
    David

    All part of navigating our existence on the planet Bush Tea. While we navigate let us take time to enjoy the view.

  9. Cuhdear Bajan Avatar
    Cuhdear Bajan

    Merely ceremonial David, merely ceremonial; and a colonial relic.
    Haven’t the Kings and Queens of our former colonial masters not always honored their own with principalities, knighthoods, ambassadorships, etc. Were any of those “honors” ever based on merit?

    I mean what great deeds did the late Duke of Edinburgh ever do to become a duke and enjoy a lifetime of the sweet life, largely funded by the British taxpayers, those same tax payers who still can’t find a cent to pay reparations owed. Those same taxpayers 3 of whom are my siblings.

    Move along do. Nothing to see here.

  10. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    @ David
    You DONE KNOW dat Bushie is a great ‘enjoyer of life’…
    Um sweet as shiite yuh!!
    EVEN despite the amazing prevalence of brassbowlery…

    @ Cuhdear
    Look up the ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ and see how EASY it is for captive BB’s to be enthralled by their captors …and to see things just as they do…
    What Duke of what Edinburgh what!!??

    No surprise to Bushie that you would judge our current positions against those practiced by our former colonizers…
    Check and see if you are STILL mentally chained…

    Vision is the ability to conceptualize that which is wise and productive.
    BB’s just look to copy what others did…
    What a place!!

  11. David Avatar
    David

    @Simple Simon

    To usher in a new way of doing business, let us ensure all decisions are driven by practical realities.

  12. 555dubstreet Avatar
    555dubstreet

    Colonial titles are like being made an Honorary White

  13. David Avatar
    David

    Well done Commissioner Boyce!

    What a load of crock.

    DIP IN MURDERS

    Top cop touts joint efforts but concern over youth going after gold

    By Colville Mounsey colvillemounsey@nationnews.com

    Barbados’ murder rate has declined this year and Commissioner of Police Richard Boyce says it reflects not only tighter intelligence-led policing but also a string of high-profile arrests that underscored the success of joint operations between the Barbados Police Service (BPS), the Barbados Defence Force (BDF) and other law enforcement partners.

    While the overall crime rate is trending downward by about three per cent, Boyce admitted that robberies have increased, driven largely by youth involvement and a desire for gold.

    In an interview yesterday, Boyce disclosed that 35 murders have been recorded so far in 2025, down from 40 during the same period last year, even as police successfully captured several “high-value targets” who, he said, were fuelling much of the recent criminal activity.

    “Those arrests are testimony to the effectiveness of the measures we’ve put in place,” Boyce said.

    “We spent real, real expensive hours trying to deal with those high-value targets and we have been successful in a big way. We will continue to look at those individuals and work accordingly to have them taken out of the equation – that is, arrested and charged for these serious crimes.” drop in murders as “commendable”, especially given the number of times officers had to be deployed to prevent the killing of intended targets.

    “The slight reduction in murders is commendable when one takes into consideration the number of occasions when our officers had to be deployed to prevent the murder of a particular target. Our efforts have been commendable in this respect,” he said.

    Boyce credited the gains to close cooperation between the Barbados Police Service and the Barbados Defence Force under Operation Restore Order, which was designed to tackle violent.

    “The Barbados Police Service has continued its operational strategies to address the overall management of crime and other uncivil behaviours which have been affecting some communities in recent times. This targeted response has been heavily supported by the involvement of a number of officers from the Barbados Defence Force.”

    Boyce said the collaboration had allowed the police to maintain a strong presence in vulnerable areas, while targeting organised crime through the Serious Organised Crime and Major Crimes Unit.

    “Those units work around the clock to get ahead of the perpetrators, who from all evidence, were bent on committing some of the most heinous crimes,” he explained.

    “This was often enabled mainly by the use of firearms and, to a lesser extent, knives.”

    So far, 52 firearms have been seized this year, compared with 56 for the same period in 2024, alongside 2 130 rounds of ammunition, up sharply from 485 rounds last year.

    “There is a strong correlation between the number of murders which are committed and the high number of illegal firearms which are in the hands of the criminal element. That is why our human and technical resources are utilised to seize these weapons and take them out of the hands of the criminal-minded,” the Commissioner said.

    “Of serious concern for the Police Service has been the number and frequency of the acts of robberies which have been occurring over time. We have identified a cohort of young persons between the ages of 13 and 19 as being the main perpetrators of these robberies,” he said.

    “We have arrested and charged a number of persons for some of these offences and our intervention will be sustained in partnership with other social agencies and non-governmental entities,” Boyce added.

    He said community policing and preventative programmes would remain at the forefront..

    “Our Crime Prevention Trust will be in the forefront of how we tackle this crime situation,” he explained.

    “We have discussed policing interventions to reach out to these young persons and steer them away from such deviant behaviours.”

    Boyce also revealed that the Police Service was continuing to build its technological capacity to manage crime, particularly through surveillance and intelligence systems.

    “We will continue to build out our technological capacity in the effort to deal with the management of crime. Whether it is the placement of cameras in additional areas, especially those places which have been identified as crime-prone, we are committed to making these communities safer.”

    He added that the Police Service was “very conscious of the need to manage the crime situation at an acceptable level” and would continue to strengthen partnerships with other agencies.

    “As we move into the last quarter of 2025, we in the law enforcement community are fully aware that we have to redouble our efforts in getting the management of crime back to a low level – one which is acceptable to us. We are very confident in realising that objective,” the Commissioner said.

    Source: Nation

  14. David Avatar
    David

    Well done on your ceremonial award Chief Justice Leslie Haynes.

    CHECK Probe into status of sex offences case

    By Maria Bradshaw mariabradshaw@nationnews.com

    An intense search is underway by legal officers to determine the status of extradition proceedings which took place ten years ago, involving a Barbadian man wanted in the United Kingdom (UK) for alleged sexual offences.

    Informed sources told the Sunday Sun that British authorities have written the Barbados Government seeking answers regarding the judicial decision to extradite Jason McEdwin Forde, who is wanted for sexual assault offences dating back 21 years ago.

    Forde, who was a nurse at a psychiatric hospital in the UK, is accused of committing the offences against a woman with a mental disorder between May 1 and May 10, 2004. He fled to Barbados before he could be prosecuted.

    According to The Nation Publishing Company’s archives, the extradition proceedings against Forde, began by Magistrate Graveney Bannister, in July 2015. It was concluded on October 23, 2015 when Bannister ruled that Forde should be handed over to the authorities in the UK to stand trial.

    Noting that the crime was an “extradition crime”, Bannister said that the allegations made by the requesting state “are serious and similarly of a sexual nature and further the conduct complained of falls within section 32 (1) of the Mental Health Act.”

    He signed the warrant of committal in November 2015.

    Filed application

    Forde’s attorney, Hal Gollop, SC, however, filed an application for judicial review in 2016, as he had contended during the proceedings that his client had a constitutional right to cross-examine witnesses.

    It is this situation that has left legal officials on an embarrassing hunt to determine if the constitutional motion was ever concluded in the High Court. Sources said the matter had passed through the hands of multiple judges.

    When contacted last week, Acting Director of Public Prosecutions Alliston Seale confirmed that British officials had indeed written Barbados on the matter: “I have my officers working on that right now.”

    Pointing out that this pre-dated his appointment, Seale explained: “It went through the Magistrate Court and it seems to me that during the magisterial part of the extradition, the person’s lawyer brought some constitutional motions that went up to the High Court. I think one was dismissed and the question, obviously, is that having been dismissed they should have continued with the extradition.

    “I don’t know what happened and I am still really concerned about it and I am trying to find out what is the status and if the status is that they are dismissed, I would kickstart them but we are looking for these things – all of this predate my sitting here but I am trying my best to start it.”

    Sent email

    Asked about the enquiries, Seale confirmed that the British High Commission had sent an email and that the detective who worked on the matter had also written a letter indicating that he was about to retire “and this was the matter that had dogged his career and he wants to see it come to finality,” Seale said.

    Further asked about the vintage nature of the matter, Seale said: “As far as I am concerned, once I receive real confirmation that the matters have been dismissed in the High Court I can’t see why we can’t proceed with the extradition. As far as I am concerned, the extradition doesn’t have a statute of limitation and I don’t think the offences have statutes in these circumstances and I don’t think statutes should come into play, especially if a man has evaded prosecution. My people are working on it a with a view of proceeding with the matter.”

    However, investigations by this newspaper reveal that the file had gone missing not once but twice from the Supreme Court.

    Forde, who resided at Chancery Lane, Christ Church, is on bail in the sum of $100 000 with a surety. As part of the bail conditions he was to report daily to a police station.

    Gollop had argued at the extradition proceedings that the request for extradition “does not satisfy” the standard required by Section Four of the Extradition Act as it did not apply to an offence in Barbados that would be a crime committed in the schedule.

    Reports indicate that a request by the UK for Forde’s extradition was first made in 2006 and again in 2009. Forde was arrested on August 22, 2010.

    The Sunday Sun tried to reach Sirah Abraham, Criminal Justice Adviser for the British High Commission in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, but was unsuccessful. Reports indicate that she has written to Barbados about the delay in finalising the matter. However, an official attached to the British High Commission confirmed that the UK was actively pursuing the matter.

    It is also understood that the victim involved has gone as far as Downing Street and officially complained to the British Prime Minister about the delay in getting the matter brought to justice.

    Source: Nation

  15. Bush Tea Avatar
    Bush Tea

    Yup!!
    Sounds like Brassbados.
    We are between a rock and a hard place!!
    …BLP lawyers and DLP lawyers…
    What a place!!

  16. Hants Avatar
    Hants

    Worth discussing ?

    https://nationnews.com/2025/10/12/some-motorists-surprised-by-electronic-tickets/

  17. John A Avatar
    John A

    @ Hants

    I am.glad to see they are finally making use of the cameras on the road. Hopefully they will use some at Eagle Hall lights and Black Rock lights to catch some of the PSVS that think a red light means go.

  18. TheOG Avatar
    TheOG

    I am starting to feel uneasy.
    I see our military will be playing a greater role in our everyday affairs.
    I see Mia reaching out and rewarding both the military and police commanders. A marrying of the two.
    I note the installation of a former military officer as President.

    My gut feelings have me shaking in my boots.

    Whenever you see an autocrat pivoting and embracing the military, you know the future can be rocky.

  19. David Avatar
    David

    Another example of the CJ receiving high national recognition bu that which he is responsible for is non performing.

    Judge orders probe into 10-year delay

    The prosecution has been tasked with investigating why the murder case of Feroze Rafikh took almost a decade to get from the Magistrates’ Court to the High Court.

    This was the order of the No. 4 Supreme Court when Rafikh appeared yesterday.

    Justice Laurie-Ann Smith-Bovell also asked the State to find out if the witnesses were still available.

    Rafikh, of 2nd Avenue, Amity Lodge, Christ Church, is accused of murdering Tito Gill on July 18, 2013.

    King’s Counsel Andrew Pilgrim, who represented the accused, argued that all of the delay was “at the State and all of it was unexplained”.

    He said the matter spent eight years in the Magistrates’ Court and “all of that was pre-Covid”.

    The attorney added that when the matter was finally committed to The Assizes, it then languished for another four years.

    “Nothing was being done until he applied to travel,” Pilgrim told the court.

    The attorney further submitted there were two witnesses – sisters – one of whom was “not well mentally” and the other who was “not available”.

    Clear evidence

    “Both gave clear evidence of the deceased attacking the accused. To read in their evidence would fall far below the standard that the defence wants. We’re asking you to find that reading in their evidence is unfair,” Pilgrim argued.

    State Counsel Maya Kellman noted the State would investigate the reasons for the delay and whether any of it could be attributed to the defence.

    Justice Smith-Bovell tasked the prosecutor with pursuing the availability of the witnesses.

    The judge also asked the State to investigate the reason why it took so long to get out of the Magistrates’ Court.

    The judge adjourned the matter until December 15

    Source: Nation

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