‘Weak’ on action

Authorities identify juvenile crime issues but suffer ‘implementation deficit’ in making change By Sheria Brathwaite The failure to implement policies to address problems in the juvenile justice system has significantly impeded Barbados’ ability to improve how minors convicted of criminal offences are dealt with. That admission came on Monday from Minister of State in the Office of the Attorney General with responsibility for Crime Prevention Corey Lane who said that over the past several years, while stakeholders have been able to identify the core issues in the child justice structure, an “implementation deficit disorder” was standing in the way of transformative measures being put in place to better help convicted juveniles turn their lives around. He was speaking to Barbados TODAY in light of a recent research study by criminologist Kirk Alleyne which found that about half of the juvenile offenders in the past 20 years ended up committing crimes, including murder, as adults. “A lot of the time we do significant work on research and understanding things . . . . We present this information, we identify the issues and then we fall down by not addressing them. When I say addressing them I mean addressing them in thought, word and deed. Sometimes the thinking goes into doing projects and so on. The word – we speak about them. Then, obviously, I think our greatest part is our implementation deficit disorder which is about the deed and what we do to address all that has been laid out,” Lane said. Last Tuesday, Barbados TODAY reported on Alleyne’s findings from his analysis of records from the Barbados Police Service’s Crime and Statistical Department and Crime Intelligence Unit from 2002 to June 2022. It showed that 1 874 minors – 1 457 males and 417 females – were charged with criminal offences. Of those juveniles, 904 – 810 males and 94 females – went on to be charged with crimes as adults. Major crimes, including serious bodily harm, endangering life, aggravated burglary and robbery, were committed by 391 of those – 375 males and 16 females. Sixty-two of them, comprising 61 males and one female, were charged with a total of 67 murders. Lane said he had seen reports as far back as the 1970s and others in 2001, 2004 and, more recently, in 2018 that outlined weak areas in the juvenile justice system and suggested there needed to be a transformatory approach to significantly improve the system. “They [reports] also spoke about overhauling the juvenile justice system and . . . we’re not only bringing a Child Protection Bill but coupled with that would be the Child Justice Bill which speaks a lot to prevention from them [minors] going into the juvenile justice system, but also diversions [from the penal system],” Minister Lane said. “For years, teachers would tell me they have seen young people as young as Class 1 and Class 2 give problems in the society. So it shows that we have a strength in identifying but we definitely got a weakness in addressing and preventing. And I think that that’s what we are looking to do now.” However, he said he believes the Child Protection Bill and Child Justice Bill will bring about the transformation and modernity currently lacking in the juvenile justice system, noting that wherever early deviant behaviour was identified, measures would be immediately put in place to prevent minors being involved in the penal system. Lane contended that while the recidivism rate among juveniles is high, it would have been even higher had it not been for a number of parenting and counselling programmes the Government and civic society established over the years. “Something I know a lot about and something I know has worked – over 3 000 persons passed through the Nature Fun Ranch so I’m telling you that this number could have been even higher. One of the things we must underscore is that if we did not have the score of organisations working with the thousands of young people, it could have been even worse, it could have been higher. “I’ve seen numbers higher than the 50 per cent that Alleyne presented that go on to commit crime as adults. I’ve seen numbers as high as 80 per cent. If you look at the [individual] years, sometimes the year could skew it. Back in 2002, the administration then had so many community mass-based training programmes through the Youth Development Programme – drumming and cultural programmes and sports programmes. A lot of them fell off later on but the numbers there might have been a little lower. And then from 2018 forward, because of the adjustment in the laws for wandering and drug offences, the numbers are extremely low again. “So, if you put in those two time periods, it actually brings down the number of people or the percentage of the persons who go on to offend from juvenile justice to adults,” he contended. Giving an update on the progress of the Child Justice Bill and Child Protection Bill which are before a select committee of Parliament. “I expect that in a few weeks [or] a few months that that now will be passed in Parliament and proclaimed and then we get to benefit from all of it – restorative justice, community service and counselling.” Lane added that wider Barbados also had a role to play in the development of the youth and encouraged the public to lend a hand wherever possible. sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb]]>