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The Barbados Police Service has been scoring major successes in firearm seizures at rates never seen before on the island.
Attorney General Dale Marshall made this disclosure on Friday, during a press conference on the recent murders, with Commissioner of Police, Richard Boyce, and other senior officers, at the Police Headquarters, Roebuck Street, St. Michael.
Mr. Marshall told the media: “The police are seizing more firearms than they have ever done in the history of Barbados. So, we have taken efforts to make sure and cut down on the number of firearms that are coming in….
“We’re dealing with that in the port; we’re dealing with it in the airport; we are dealing with it in the post office, wherever we know firearms come in we have heightened our measures to tamp that down, to reduce it as much as possible. And we’re also removing firearms off of the streets at a rate that I think the members of the Police Service need to be congratulated for.”
Commissioner Boyce said 75 firearms had already been recovered in 2022, in comparison to last year’s 36. He added that three units in the Service were working consistently and assiduously to address firearms, which were being recovered on a daily basis.
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“So, our tactics are working in terms of recovery of firearms, and that is something that is ongoing, and we intend to continue that,” he stated.
The Commissioner stressed that there would be a lot more vigilance at the ports of entry. He pointed out that it was important to have tremendous knowledge of where these firearms were coming from and who were facilitating them through the ports of entry.
Mr. Boyce told the reporters: “We are well aware that firearms are a trade commodity; persons are very much involved in trading of firearms. So, whether it is lending, whether it is selling and buying, there is a market for them, so we have to dismantle that market.”
He noted that a US department with responsibility for tobacco and firearm matters was working with the Service to wrestle this problem of firearms to the ground, and the preventative measure was already bearing fruit.
Acting Assistant Commissioner David Griffith, who is responsible for crime, said of the 28 murders this year, 21 were as a result of the use of firearms, five were stabbings, one strangulation, and one beating. Fifteen of those murders have already been solved.
“Now that figure (for firearms) is extremely high, and we are extremely concerned about it. But when we examine these 21 murder cases, 14 of those deceased persons were on bail for various serious offences, including murder, use of firearms, possession of firearms, serious bodily harm, … and such like,” the acting Assistant Commissioner said.
He assured Barbadians that the police would be relentless in their pursuit against these persons and indicated that citizens could go about their business as the Barbados Police Service was doing all to protect their interests. After four shooting deaths in three days, Barbados has recorded 28 homicides for 2022. There were 32 homicides in 2021; 41 in 2020, and 48 in 2019.