Crime-reporting tool launched

A local resident who was the victim of an attempted burglary earlier this month has launched a Community Crime Report platform in an effort to reduce criminal activity in communities.

Charles Charlie Spice Lewis who is spearheading the initiative, told Barbados TODAY that Barbadians have the opportunity to submit details of crime immediately to the Community Crime Report platform and the information would be shared instantly with members of neighbouring communities.

“This is a platform that enables members of the community to upload videos explaining any crime that they have been a victim of or witnessed. It is also available to the police department to use to upload information about criminal activities as part of their investigations and crime-solving procedures. It is totally free of charge as a public service. 

“In addition to publishing videos of details of crime, you can also blog about it.

“Someone who is not able to take a selfie can just upload information to the blog and we will then spread it to the immediate community and then all of the neighbouring communities. It’s a web application at the moment but it will soon be turned into an app” he said.

Stressing that sharing information about criminal activity could prevent another person from becoming a victim of a similar crime and also lead to the quick apprehension of criminals, Lewis encouraged Barbadians to make contributions to the platform which could be accessed through communitycrimereport.com.

He said though it has only been a few days since the platform was launched, he was pleased with the public’s response and the feedback he received from law enforcement officials.

He indicated that he has sent correspondence about the platform to the office of Commissioner of Police Richard Boyce and Attorney General Dale Marshall about forming potential partnerships to allow for the expansion of the platform.

“I spoke to a senior police officer at Holetown Police Station and he encouraged me to write to the Commissioner of Police to try to include the entire police department in the strategy because they can use it to upload crime reports themselves or to view it to see what crime is taking place that they may not be aware of.

“This is not a programme that was launched out of the police department, it is private sector driven and we are inviting the police and the government to support it and we also want people in communities to support it because without the participation of the majority of people, it doesn’t work,’ he said.

Lewis, who is an outspoken adult entertainment advocate, recalled that around 5 a.m. on March 4 a man who attempted to enter his residence, stole items from his patio.

He said footage from the incident captured on his surveillance camera was shared with police. That footage and assistance from persons within his community, resulted in the perpetrator being captured a few days later and eventually prosecuted for his unlawful actions, Lewis added.

“It is my understanding that he has also confessed to several other burglaries that he did in the week or two leading up to the burglary at my house. I am appealing to members of communities, as well as business owners, to take a serious look at the platform, subscribe and use it,” Lewis said. (AH)