EDITORIAL
Barbadians need to make a greater effort to become their brother’s keeper, and in doing so, we think that a national effort should be made to create a number of neighbourhood watches to help reduce the level of crime in our country and by extension build stronger communities.
The fact is, as Barbados has developed over the years and we have seen the introduction of residential communities in heights and terraces, with that has come a move away from the village mentality and approach to life that Barbadians once embraced. Whereas before, persons knew their neighbours by name, where they worked, their extended family and they considered themselves to be more than friends; today we have a situation where persons do not really know their neighbours beyond the licence plate number on their vehicles. This is indeed sad. That reality was reinforced by the recent discovery of corpses in homes across the island, some in advanced stages of decomposition. In many cases no one missed these persons, or just assumed they were away, and let’s face it, it is because we are not being good neighbours. If each community has a neighbourhood watch, as they seek to ensure the area is safe, they can make a point to check in on each other as well.
We need to bring back neighbourhood watches. It is not a concept unfamiliar to Barbadians, there had in total been around 150 neighbourhood watches at one time. However, there are far more than 150 communities in this country, which has in excess of 270 000 people living in it, so more has to be done to establish such groups across this nation. Perhaps that is a role that the Constituency Councils can take on, of course with the help of its parent ministry, the Ministry of Social Care, Constituency Empowerment and Community Development. Perhaps if they can establish a constituency watch, with residents from each neighbourhood within the area represented on it and divide it into zones, they can then build strong, viable neighbourhood watches.
Such groupings are necessary if we are to curb criminal activity in this country, particularly acts that impact on persons in their homes. However, experience has shown that persons only ask for and are willing to work with such programmes when there is an outbreak of criminal or lawless behaviour, but the minute they reap success in alleviating or eliminating the problem, that interest wanes and the watches cease to exist.
We cannot allow this to happen. If we are to maintain the peace and tranquillity that is our island nation, then such groups must remain in operation. We cannot and must not think that the problem has been rectified if no more houses are burglarised and then just abandon the neighbourhood watches. The criminal element is only waiting for that lapse in judgement on our part so that they can make their move and disrupt law and order.
Thieves prey on communities where security is lacking and residents keep to themselves, but if residents can come together and work out a schedule to keep watch for suspicious activity and report it to the police or anonymous facilities like Crime Stoppers when they see it, then they can keep their areas safe. Nonetheless, if we are going to promote the creation of such groups across this country, it is imperative that we ensure the requisite legislative or policy environment to govern them exists, clearly outlining their responsibilities, so that they do not get their roles confused with that of law enforcement officials.
What’s more, it is important that the law enforcement authorities ensure that these groups keep watch and do not engage in vigilante justice; there is no room for such in our society.