YOUTH INVOLVEMENT IN CRIME |
Barbados
The coverage of youth crime is a reasonable indication of the reality on the ground and what concerns citizens. This indicates that the media is not favoring any type of crime over another but are fairly representing what happens. The notable exception is stories about assault which is the leading cause of criminal charges at 34% overall, but assault stories only comprise 5% in our keyword search of media stories (see Table 2). The explanation for this could be that some assaults are minor and as such may not be considered newsworthy even though there is a charge. In a televised interview June 28, 2022, with Barbados Police Commissioner Richard Boyce, he revealed that possession of illegal firearms had increased, including high powered weapons. Despite successes in retrieving illegal firearms, he expressed concern that these seem to be replenished quickly. A further concern was that the use of firearms in crimes was also on the increase. He stated that assault, serious bodily harm and theft were the dominant criminal activities of 11–16-year-old juveniles. The most common crimes committed by 17–25-year-old youth are assault, serious bodily harm, theft, murder and robbery. This is confirmed in data provided by the Barbados Police Service (Appendix 2), Office of the Commissioner for this report which reveals: July-December 2021 – In this 6 month period 473 youth were charged for crime. 30 Juveniles/children 13-16 were charged for crimes and 83,3% of the offences could be considered serious with assaults being the largest category at 43.3%. 443 youth 17-29 were charged for crimes and 76% of the offences could be considered serious with assaults being the largest category at 21.4%. Possession of drugs 13.3%, theft 10.3%, Criminal damage 6.7%, serious bodily harm 6.3% and illegal firearm/ammunition 3.3% are other noteworthy categories.
A Media Analysis of the Coverage of Youth Involvement in Crime and Violence and Trafficking in Persons (June 2021 to June 2023) in the Eastern Caribbean 33
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