Too many repeat offenders

This country’s recidivism rate is unacceptably high.

Attorney General and Minister of Home Affairs, Adriel Brathwaite, revealed that at 68 per cent, there is a definite need to do more to ensure that persons when they leave the prison system, do not reoffend and find themselves back behind bars, and he said such an effort is already being made within the prison system.

He was speaking to the issue as he addressed tourism stakeholders earlier this week at the Third Quarterly General Meeting of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA), giving an update on the crime situation and what steps are being taken to remedy it.

“Many of the people who go into system, who come into the criminal justice system, graduated from school and can’t read or write; half the persons in prison have mental health and other issues that weren’t picked up before. So you have a situation where within the prison system you are frankly not dealing with the brightest and the best.

“There are some success stories, but there are some guys that you actually need to start by even having remedial English programmes. There is a wide gamut of programmes that we have to offer to ensure that the guys, when they are released from prison, don’t get back involved in criminal activities,” he stated.

But the AG made it clear that reducing the recidivism rate cannot be Government’s job alone. He contended that a whole-of-country approach must be adopted to address the matter. He bolstered the point as he told those in attendance, that too often family members are not supportive enough towards former inmates, and the business community is unwilling to employ them. In respect of the latter, he noted that a survey conducted among businesses showed that 90 per cent of employers who participated would not employ someone with a criminal record.

“You have many instances of individuals, their mothers write to you; their grandmothers write to you, they want their child home. The child goes home, he has no skills, [though] you try your best within the prison etc., and by week two he is told go and find a job – you can’t live in here without contributing to electricity etc, etc; and by week three he is told, if you don’t find or put some money in this house, you have to go. And guess what? He goes back to the only behaviour that he knows. He goes back to selling drugs, or robbing and stealing and these same family members know that he doesn’t leave home with a saw and stuff, know that in fact his source of income has to be from illegal activities,” he lamented.
(JRT)