EDITORIAL: Why choose violence?

The question often asked by residents in Barbados is “Where are the guns coming from?” Drugs are often found but the discovery of guns and ammunition is rarely reported. This is particularly challenging because everyday items like foodstuff and cosmetics have been difficult to obtain recently. This is due to the limited air lift because of Covid-19. So how then have these guns come to be so readily available to the criminal elements on our island?

Many wonder if containers of guns are imported to supply the island’s young men which somehow slip through the ports of entry. But that adds a new question of who ships the guns into Barbados – do the gangs have wealthy benefactors who organise these things? The questions continue to multiply. Recently the Royal Barbados Police Force confiscated an AK-47 rifle from the site of a shooting. Such weapons are high-powered and extremely dangerous and to imagine something like that on the streets of Barbados in the hands of a civilian is shocking and scary.

There needs to be an intense look into the origin of these guns to limit the gun violence at the source. This is not to say that guns are the only issue. The attitude of the residents of Barbados who engage in criminal activity whether or not they use weapons is also an issue. It is unclear why younger people have developed a hopeless attitude and have turned to crime as a way of life. Is it tied to the educational system and a lack of viable opportunities for them to have legal and lucrativecareers?

The issue of crime increasing is a regional one and the bigger Caribbean islands such as Trinidad and Jamaica have been dealing with such increases for several years. The pressure cannot only be placed on the law enforcement but there needs to be further research into the psychological causes behind deviant behaviour in society.

Leader of the Democratic Labour Party Verla Depeiza criticised the government for what appears to be throwing money at the crime situation by hiring consultants and creating new posts but providing no change in the actual crime rates. In his response, Attorney General Dale Marshall told Barbadians that they should not panic about the recent uptick in violent crimes because the Royal Barbados Police Force was working to control the situation. He added that the Government is taking seriously the suggestion that they look into the origin of guns more closely and to that end new scanning equipment had been installed at the Port along with the implementation of higher surveillance. He also noted that there were already guns on the island that had to be found and confiscated but that his ministry was on top of the situation.

We can clearly see that there is a crime problem on the island, residents in Barbados have been fairly lucky traditionally with relatively low levels of violent crime and this was likely because it was not the culture of Barbadians to behave in that way. Now, society has changed and shootings have become a normal experience. We now have to warn our children to duck when they hear certain sounds. Is it impossible to return to the old way of life?