Professor Dwayne Devonish, a leading behavioural specialist, has called for a radical shift in tackling gun violence, following Tuesday’s tragic shooting of 13-year-old bystander Shawnaton Chase at a netball match.
He called for a more aggressive crackdown on illegal firearms and community-led initiatives to address the root causes of violent behaviour among at-risk youth.
Chase, a Lodge School second-former, was shot when assailants pulled out guns and fired at the crowd. The teenager was shot multiple times in the stomach and later died from his injuries in the early hours of Wednesday morning at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
Professor Devonish described the incident as “tragic”, stressing the need for a more aggressive approach to tackling the importation and trafficking of illegal firearms in Barbados.
“We have, as a country, to get extremely aggressive and serious about cracking down on the importation and the trafficking of illicit firearms in this country. I think even more so, we have to really address the volatile and reckless behaviours of certain categories of at-risk youth across different communities,” he urged.
Professor Devonish also called for increased police surveillance and improved intelligence to prevent such crimes.
“The police have a very good clearance rate when it comes to resolving these issues, but I think we have to do much more when it comes to prevention.”
He stressed that community intervention is needed and that law enforcement alone cannot tackle this issue in preventing crime.
Professir Devonish noted that, “In communities where you see greater gaps between younger people and older people, in terms of lower levels of solidarity and cooperation, we tend to see higher increases in criminal activity.”
Following the news of the incident, he spoke to the media, calling for mentorship programmes to bridge the gap between mature residents and young people, particularly those at risk of being drawn into criminal activity.
“I think we need those mature, responsible community members to step in, to intervene, to mentor. Conflict resolution cannot just be placed in the hands of teachers or community police. We need conflict resolution initiatives within the heart of the community,” he explained.
Professor Devonish stressed that youth from dysfunctional homes need community mentorship to prevent them from falling into criminal behaviour. He appealed to responsible community members to provide guidance and help these young people make better choices. (LG)
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