AG admits ‘mistakes’ in crime prevention programme

Editor’s Note: This story has been corrected.
In the original version, paragraph 5 incorrectly quoted the Attorney General as saying beneficiaries must demonstrate “a willingness of the persons to change behaviour, and then to meet a minimum standard of poverty.” The word “poverty” was inaccurate. Attorney General Marshall actually used the word “probity.” 

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ttorney General Dale Marshall has acknowledged that “mistakes” were made in the government’s controversial National Peace Programme, revealing that public funds were allocated to a crime prevention project in which “a few of the persons were still involved in criminal activity”.

Marshall told the House of Assembly on Monday that upon discovering this, he immediately “stopped it” and, after consulting Prime Minister Mia Mottley, instituted “a greater level of scrutiny on all projects” within the programme.

The National Peace Programme, which aimed to divert mainly young men from a life of crime, sparked national outrage last year. Marshall explained that the initiative was launched two years ago in response to a rise in firearm-related homicides and intelligence suggesting the need for novel interventions.

Given the programme’s “novel nature”, a new approval process has been implemented. “All projects are now considered by an Evaluation Committee. They go through then the Minister of State [Corey Lane], and now they come to me for my sign-off for submission to the National Security Council. They make the ultimate decision,” Marshall outlined.

The attorney general emphasised that beneficiaries must now demonstrate “a willingness of the persons to change behaviour, and then to meet a minimum standard of probity”. He noted that while some Caribbean countries have adopted similar approaches to combat crime, Barbados’ programme was modelled after an initiative in Chicago led by Arne Duncan, former Secretary of Education under US President Barack Obama.

Duncan led an anti-violence NGO called CRED, Creating Real Economic Destiny, that set out to give predominantly gang members “a chance at diversion from guns and gangs”, he said.

The Attorney General’s Office was the first to face questions in Parliament, as the Estimates Debate got underway in the House of Assembly.

Some $248.45 million has been allocated to this AG’s Office which oversees the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Community Legal Services, the Law Reform Commission, the Law Revision Office, the Office of the Chief Parliamentary Counsel, the Registration Department, the Supreme Court, Criminal Justice Research Project, the Forensic Science Centre, the Design and Implementation Unit, and the Barbados Police Service.

Of that $248.45m, $158.33m represents discretionary spending. The bulk of the budget for the Attorney General’s Office, or $170m is going to support the work of the Barbados Police Service.

Seated in the well of Parliament and flanked by Commissioner of Police Richard Boyce and Minister of State with responsibility for crime prevention Corey Lane, the Attorney General provided the House with details of the government’s efforts to reduce crime and divert individuals from crime.

Marshall noted further: “Let us be clear. Barbados is a small society, a small country. There are no fences or walls high enough to quell the contagion of crime.

“People who live in Highgate Gardens don’t have a fence or wall high enough to keep crime out. We, therefore, need to reach into our communities and attempt to show individuals who are either involved in crime or about to become involved in crime that there’s a better way.

“We have to entice individuals away from the apparent attractiveness of the gun and the gang culture.”

(IMC1)