The day should never come when citizens of Barbados feel disconnected from the current gun violence because it is about “them” and not about “us”.
The number of killings over the past two weeks has become a daunting reminder that the “peace” agreement between warring gangs that lasted for more than a year, was shaky at best.
While we in the general public are offering only conjecture as to what is behind the most recent spate of killings, the frequency, the locations, and profiles of the victims suggest these are not random cases of murder.
In most of the cases, the murder victims were not involved in a physical confrontation with their attackers at the moment of their deaths but were outside their homes or socialising with associates when their killers pounced.
These situations could lead one to assume that shootings were the result of planned attacks on the victims.
It is for this reason that some Barbadians have taken the cynical approach that these are “bad boys settling scores” and so it has nothing to do with them, or that they are insulated from the violence.
This is not only cynical but highly dangerous. Barbados is too small and our communities way too interconnected for people to feel they are somehow protected from the violence and gun play.
On Saturday night, Barbados recorded its 18th murder for the year when a 17-year-old of Rock Hall, St Philip was killed after he and his friends were approached by three men. Dashawn Hinkson took his last breath in the home of a neighbour where he had fled in search of safety.
This young man’s shooting was one of a string of such deaths over the past two weeks, after four murders were recorded in five days.
All this is occurring as Barbados is on the world stage, co-hosting the International Cricket Council’s Men’s T20 World Cup. The eyes of millions of cricket fans will be on the island in the lead up to the final on Saturday. Surely, law enforcement, government, and average Barbadians are hoping this current gunplay does not directly impact the games or those who have come here to enjoy the spectacle.
It is obvious that with heightened fear and trepidation, the likely human response is to find someone or institution to blame.
We accept that crime and gun crimes in particular have a context that is multifaceted. Citizens have called on the government to tighten security at our ports of entry.
There is also a belief that privately operated ports such as those associated with luxury properties and marinas also require greater supervision and surveillance.
As an island state, we are conscious that our coastlines represent open entry points for the smuggling of illicit goods including drugs and guns.
For this and other reasons, our Coast Guard and police marine operations will require greater resources to better position them to be a real barrier to criminals on the sea.
The gun crimes have also forced the government to adopt some non-traditional approaches that have come under increased scrutiny.
The controversial government sanctioned Peace Programme, which created what some described as “strange bedfellows” between state actors and “men of the streets” to quell the gang wars, has brought some measure of success. While the programme has received a fair amount of criticism over its alliances and financial arrangements with former convicts, it has also been approved by many who believe it is time to try different approaches.
To have gone 16 months of relative peace from any significant gun crime is an achievement which we should celebrate. Given what is occurring in neighbouring countries such as Trinidad and Tobago where gangs seem to be ruling the streets, our law enforcement agencies have achieved a measure of success.
But we still have a major problem on our hands. Men or people with guns are dangerous not only to the persons they are targeting but future victims. If those firearms are not removed from their possession and taken off the streets, they will continue to remain a threat to peace in the country.
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