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televisionThe Congress of Trade Unions and Staff Associations of Barbados (CTUSAB) has criticised the creation of a Serious Organised Crime Unit within the Barbados Police Service, arguing that its creation is unnecessary given the existing units tasked with combating crime.
In a virtual press conference on Wednesday, CTUSAB Secretary General Dennis De Peiza questioned the rationale for creating a new unit when the police department is already understaffed.
“I don’t think we need to reinvent the wheel. We need to consolidate what we have and move as quickly as we can because we waited until the horse ran away and now we’re trying to pull it back,” DePesa said.
He noted that gun violence has been a serious problem for more than a decade, with the island having recorded 27 homicides so far this year, most of which were gun-related.
Depesa believes that the Criminal Investigation Department, Special Branch and Special Services Group should be equipped to handle gang-related crimes.
“I think you need to further empower the police department with resources, if you can, so that they can do their job effectively,” he said.
Union leaders have criticized authorities for not being aggressive enough in their fight against crime in recent years.
“In some places, the problem has been exposed,” he said, urging stronger measures to secure the border and trace the source of illegal guns.
“Collect the guns, find out who has guns, who carries guns, take them off the street, get these people back to where they belong,” DePesa said. “Otherwise, this epidemic, what we call a public health problem, is going to spread and it’s going to devastate our society.”
He also expressed concern about Barbados being influenced by North American culture, such as attitudes towards smoking, corporal punishment and toy guns, and warned that this would have a serious impact on the socialization of children.
Abdon da Silva, chair of the Caribbean-based US-based Coalition on Gun Crime, called for more research into gun crime and gang issues in Barbados and said Barbados could learn from the experiences of other Caribbean regions facing similar challenges.
Both union leaders stressed that gun violence and youth deviance should be viewed as social and public health issues, not political ones. They advocated for early intervention to address child deviance and evidence-based strategies to combat crime.
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