“We will not allow any community in Barbados to be held under siege.”
That was the warning from the Attorney General of Barbados, Dale Marshall.
He was speaking in light of an upsurge in shooting incidents in The Pine, St. Michael. The latest report suggests that three people were shot in that area on Saturday.
The Attorney General highlighted some measures which have been put in place to address the recent upsurge in the following statement:
The new year has begun with gunmen wreaking havoc in the densely populated Pine community. Fortunately, the injuries sustained have not been life-threatening. However, what has been threatened is the ability of the residents to live peacefully in their homes and the be outdoors in the night, as is their right.
We will not allow any community in Barbados to be held under siege. Not under any circumstances.
The Police Service has therefore determined that as an immediate response, the Pine areas will see saturated policing. In other words, there will be an increased police presence on the streets in that community. This is of course, in addition to the investigative strategies that are usually employed. This response will certainly place increased pressure on our man-power resources, but this is a necessary step at this stage. There are other matters that are being pursued but those are of course operational matters that are left to the police leadership.
I have to ask the residents of the Pine to match the Police efforts at making you safe by coming forward with whatever information you may have, no matter how insignificant you may feel it to be. Early information allows the Police Service to be more effective in their efforts and can even help them to prevent these occurrences. This is not an idle statement. On numerous occasions, the police service has been able to take steps to neutralize threats to our communities. Help them to help you!
From the Government’s side, we are continuing to strengthen the hand of law enforcement in a variety of ways, technical, financial and legislative. We are also working collaboratively with our Caricom sister
Governments to address the crime issues that we are seeing on the rise across the region.
The work continues every day at keeping the criminal element in check, and I can never speak about the crime situation without praising the men and women of the Police Service, who put their lives and wellbeing at risk constantly to keep us all safe.