Months before the spike in crime at the start of the year, Barbadians had expressed concern, fearing for their lives and the safety of communities in the wake of an increase in gun and gang-related activities.
They made their feelings known in a study on the public perceptions of crime and violence conducted by Dr Dwayne Devonish, a senior lecturer in management studies at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus late last year.
In his survey, which polled about 1 000 people, more than 70 per cent described the crime situation as “bad” or “very bad” and all agreed crime had worsened compared to 2017.
They laid the root cause of this increase squarely on unemployment, especially among high-risk youth, drugs and the state of the economy.
Respondents believed that some of the crime was being perpetrated by “outsiders” of a given community, who were seeking revenge, or by rival gangs who were looking for “justice” or “possessions”.
The police also came under fire in the survey. Some respondents stated their reluctance to report crimes they witnessed to police because of their lack of trust in the Force and perceived tardiness in responding to a report. They also feared being labelled or targeted as informants.
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