AG says there are no ‘overnight’ solutions to crime

Despite a spike in violent, brazen acts, Attorney General Dale Marshall is reminding Barbadians that there are no “overnight” solutions to the problem.

On Monday, Marshall also contended that even with numerous initiatives across the criminal justice and social welfare systems, the Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF) would continue to operate at a severe disadvantage without the proactive cooperation of ordinary citizens.

Government’s chief legal advisor was addressing the start of an ‘executive’ police training workshop at the Hilton Barbados when he promised to provide the force with “every single resource” that it needs.

During his 15-minute address, Marshall touted a 2019 initiative to increase the number of criminal court judges from two to five, to remove more than a thousand criminal cases that were languishing in the high courts. He acknowledged that this has also been a point of frustration for police officers whose hard work and investigations appear to be in vain.

“Of course, it won’t be a simple solution to get rid of a thousand cases. If you do the maths, it would be 200 cases per judge and judges don’t work all day, every day and prosecutors don’t work all day, every day and the preparation of cases, the availability of officers to come to court and give evidence – all of these things will impact our ability to get the cases through. But the immediate need is that we had to get more judges and I believe we have addressed that,” Marshall declared.

“There are cynics among us and given the recent spikes in violent incidents, some will question whether we are making progress. I will admit that we are not exactly where we want to be, but I am confident that as long as we work assiduously, our efforts will achieve the desired outcome. Every Barbadian wanted to see the crime reduced overnight, but there are no overnight solutions to a problem that has been plaguing us for over a decade,” he added.

Among the most recent killings is the May 22nd shooting of acting Station Sergeant Newton Lewis and the June 17th slaying of retired policeman Grenville Cumberbatch. Added to the concerns is an apparent increase in aggravated robberies.

Simultaneously, Government is appealing a recent High Court decision, blocking lawmakers from using legislation to deny bail to persons charged with murder and gun-related offences.

In the meantime, Marshall complained that lawmen are also facing a faction of “vulnerable” young people prone to criminal activity and a culture seemingly averse to informing officers when trouble is brewing.

“We have been noticing that vulnerable families produce vulnerable young men and women who are easily drawn into a culture of illegal activity. Now you get called after the fact, but we feel that our society needs to play a greater role in saving those vulnerable families from that particular peril,” Marshall reiterated.

“Nobody calls the police before to say that something is about to happen. Very few people will call the police and say ‘so and so has a firearm stashed somewhere’. Very few people will call and say ‘You know, I am hearing things on the ground and I have a feeling that something is going to happen’. You gentlemen get called after it has happened and it tells me that our society doesn’t recognise the role that it has to play in proactive policing.

“Therefore, we have embarked as a government on a number of initiatives, especially important at this time of COVID to make sure that those vulnerable families don’t fall through the cracks. So there are social and community issues beyond the purview of the justice system. We know that if we save our societies, we will make your jobs easier,” the AG concluded.
(kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb)