Government seeking holistic picture of crime problem

Government will soon be able to understand the full picture of the country’s crime problem, and then implement effective programmes to reduce it.

This will be made possible through the Barbados Crime Victimization Survey, which is a part of the CariSECURE project, a partnership between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Addressing the training workshop at United Nations (UN) House yesterday, US Ambassador to Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean and the OECS, Her Excellency Linda Taglialatela said that crime victimization surveys are recognized as important tools, capturing unreported crime and supplementing the reported ones, which improves the fidelity of the data and ensures the needs of vulnerable populations are addressed.

The Ambassador explained that these surveys also provide an important source of crime and violence data that often times has not been reported by citizens to the police. This often includes for example, sexual assault, aggravated and simple robbery, personal larceny, and household property crimes. It also provides vital information on vulnerable groups such as women, the elderly, and children, who may be reticent to share their victimization directly with an official.

“The new information gained from the survey will them enable the government to gauge perceptions of the police, assess crime victimization, and identify important trends, like crime in schools, crime locations and victim profiling that are not always captured by official administrative crime data,” she pointed out.

“The survey data will fill gaps and create a more holistic picture of crime, leading to a better understanding by the government of the crime situation. It will enable policymakers to develop more effective policies and crime interventions that will then contribute to crime reduction and safer communities”.

Ambassador Taglialatela told representatives of criminal justice agencies that during the week they will understand the purpose and application of statistical information; how to administer a national crime victimization survey questionnaire; process data and conduct information analysis; consider crime screening and methodological issues; and ensure quality control.

“These fundamental skills are integral to successful crime victimization surveys,” she further stressed. (TL)