AG confirms spike in gun crime | Loop Barbados

Black Immigrant Daily News

Barbados is not the wild, wild west, in relation to gun violence according to Attorney General Dale Marshall.

Addressing public concerns surrounding gun-related crime during a press conference today, the Attorney General acknowledged that there has been “a sharp increase in numbers over a short period of time”. However, he contended that this spike was not an indication that the island “has descended into a state of chaos”.

“The country has experienced a spike in a number of firearm events or incidents over a few weeks. These have resulted in a number of deaths and injuries. Other incidents not connected to the use of firearms but also resulting in the loss of life have also occurred. These are all tragic circumstances and acutely felt in a small country such as ours….

“This is not an indication that Barbados has descended into a state of chaos or outright lawlessness. We have dealt with spikes in crime before and effectively so,” Marshall remarked.

Sharing firearm statistics spanning over five years, Marshall reported that 23 gun-related murders in 2017, 18 in 2018, 30 in 2019, 26 in 2020 and 17 gun-related murders were recorded in 2021.

For the period January to July 7, 2022, 17 murders have been recorded with 12 by the use of firearms. During the period 2017 to 2022, police recovered 465 firearms.

The Attorney General stated that upon entering office, Government has “spent considerable amount of resources” to strengthen detection at the ports of entry and to address coastal surveillance.

“There has been a period in the past where these assets have not been in working order and have not been in working order for extended periods of time, in some instances well over a year. Now, if our ability to detect firearms coming into Barbados is significantly hampered because assets are out of use for a year and a half, you can only imagine what number of guns could have come in at that time.”

“In those circumstances therefore it has a been a challenge for our law enforcement agencies. At our ports of entry, our guard was significantly down,” he revealed while adding that millions were spent to fix the issue.

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