Fears of retaliation and demands for witness protection laws have not stopped more Barbadians from contacting Crime Stoppers, the organisation has said, as it reported a steady rise in confidential tips this year.
Programme Director Kristen Deukett said while Crime Stoppers cannot dictate how witness protection legislation should work, any effort to safeguard citizens who come forward with information would be welcome.
“Crime Stoppers is definitely in support of any sort of programme that hopes to provide more security and safety for the Barbadian public, particularly given the fact that Barbados is a small society,” she told Barbados TODAY.
Yet even as more citizens come forward, Crime Stoppers faces a persistent challenge: many Barbadians remain unaware of how the anonymous tip system actually works or that it exists at all.
Deukett’s comments come as concerns mount over the island’s violent crime surge.
Some citizens have expressed reluctance to step forward, fearing retaliation.
But Deukett noted that Crime Stoppers has already seen a rise in public engagement this year.
“I can say that from the beginning of this year, we actually did see an increase in calls, but not just in calls, we also have a tip form online,” she explained. “A lot of people are actually using our website or our app, the P3 tips app, instead of calling. It’s quite interesting to see that variation.”
While activity dipped slightly last month, September has brought a steady increase in tips, she said.
Still, awareness surrounding the hotline remains a challenge.
“So education and sensitisation are very important. At the end of the day, we recognise that when we talk about an anonymous hotline, as well as in recognising, for example, the difference between calling a number versus directly going to the police station to report a crime, a lot of citizens have various angst regarding which direction to move in because ultimately it is their safety, their lives on the line in essence,” Deukett said.
She acknowledged that some Barbadians remain unaware of the anonymous tip service, which operates through the 1-800-8477 hotline. Calls are routed to Canada, where operators receive the reports without access to caller information.
Deukett explained how the call centre works: “Once you make that phone call, the programme is set up to completely remove any sorts of caller ID information. The operator has no idea who called or what the number is, so there’s no way to track it.”
Despite the safeguards, she revealed that people often bypass the system and share tips directly with her personal phone – something she described as “not ideal”.
For her, the priority now is public education.
“We need to get back out there into the public more and increase our community efforts so we can address concerns people may have,” she said. “When you are dealing with the community, you have to engage with them, hear what the concerns are and see how you can work together.”
Feedback from citizens, she said, has been mixed: “On the one hand, people are very excited to know that this is something you can use 24/7. Others had no clue about it, so it’s something they’re learning for the first time.”
Many, she added, also want to know what happens after they file a tip – and whether what they are reporting even counts as a crime.
“So it’s again to try and educate the public so they understand more or less what are the laws of the land, what is considered to be a crime, and how the process works from submitting a tip to the stage of a case being opened,” she said. (SB)
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