There has been an increase in the number of cases of domestic violence, child abuse and drug-related matters reported to Crime Stoppers Barbados in 2018.
News of this from Chairman Oral Reid who told Barbados TODAY this afternoon that people now seem more interested in reporting wrongdoing anonymously and not coming forward to claim their cash rewards for doing so.
“We have been encouraged by the increased level of response that we have had from members of the community. There were some areas that we realized significant spikes in the number of calls received,” Reid revealed.
“And those related to matters of domestic violence and child abuse and drug-related offences,” he added.
While not armed with statistics, the former senior police officer expressed delight that some of those cases reported resulted in suspects appearing before the law courts to answer charges.
Reid said this is a classic case of the wider community continuing to play a pivotal role in helping to control crime in Barbados and helping to provide a safe environment for all residents and visitors.
“I am not able to provide you with numbers. But what I can say is that we have realized an increase in the number of anonymous persons utilizing the telephone number 1-800- 8477 and we see this as a positive thing,” the Crime Stoppers head said.
On the matter of compensation for anonymous tips, Reid is reporting an increase in money paid.
“We realize that persons are more interested in the protection of members of their community than in coming forward to collect remuneration for information shared. I think that is positive,” he concluded.
