For the first time in a decade, September passed without a single gun homicide in Barbados, according to the Criminal Justice Research and Planning Unit. The brief lull in deadly shootings, analysts say, coincided with heightened police patrols but ended abruptly as murders rose again in October.
The development was highlighted by the Criminal Justice Research and Planning Unit, which could not pinpoint the cause.
In an interview with Barbados TODAY, Senior Research Analyst Kirt Goodridge said: “This was the first year that we would have seen in about ten years that we didn’t have any homicides at all in September. Historically, September is a quiet month when it comes to murders. Over the past ten years, we’ve had on average about three murders in the month of September per year. This year is the first year that we’ve not had a single murder in September.”
“This is quite significant because last year was the year that we had the highest number of murders in September, at seven. But usually the number of murders you get in September for the last ten years hovers between one and three, only going over that number three times. That was in 2015, 2018 and then last year. Traditionally September is a very quiet month, so I don’t know what is the reasoning behind that but as I said this year we’ve seen a very good trend in September but, as we saw, that didn’t last long — it jumped back up again [in October].”
He suggested that an increase in police presence may have contributed to the phenomenon.
“I don’t know if that’s because the summer period is over and school is beginning to get back in motion. But September tends to be a very quiet month,” Goodridge said.
Official statistics show that 2025 has recorded 40 fatal shootings up to Friday, compared with 34 in 2024. In 2023, 14 gun-related deaths were reported; 33 in 2022; 17 in 2021; and 27 in 2020. In 2019, 31 deaths involving firearms were reported; 18 in 2018; 23 in 2017; 17 in 2016; while 19 were reported in 2015.
Goodridge noted: “This year you would have seen the step-up of the police presence in certain high-risk neighbourhoods. The police were [in various communities] a lot coming out of the end of the summer so those boots on the ground would have deterred a lot of the criminal activity. But again, that’s not a sustainable strategy.”
“You cannot have boots on the ground in all these neighbourhoods all the time, and eventually they’re going to have to suspend that initiative. So I think that what might have contributed to the reducing [gun-related] murders in September this year would have been the increase in the police presence in the particular neighbourhoods.”
The increase in patrols followed a June directive by the Barbados Police Service to ramp up surveillance, particularly in areas previously identified as high risk. Top law enforcement officials then branded the surge in gun violence as “domestic terrorism”, pledging an all-out offensive to dismantle criminal networks. The police and the Barbados Defence Force have collaborated closely to strengthen their operational reach across the island.
Despite the success in September, the overall crime picture remains mixed. In October, police reported a rise in major offences including murder, kidnapping, robbery, and endangering life.
Acting Commissioner of Police Erwin Boyce said in a press conference at the time: “There is provisionally a two per cent decrease in overall crime. We are not content with that decline, because we are seeing some concerning movement in the total major crime area, which means that we need to focus more on major crimes, and major crimes involve street crimes.”
Police recorded 4 872 crimes for January to October 2025, compared with 4 969 for the same period in 2024. Major crimes rose 13 per cent year on year. Reported robberies doubled to 213 from 100 the previous year. Boyce explained: “This is an area that we are now focusing on, since, in analysing the modus in relation to the homicides, 22 were enabled by firearms.”
From January to September, offences against the person increased by 18 per cent, with the category comprising murder, kidnapping, robbery and endangering life up by 50 per cent.
Sex-related crimes dropped slightly from 93 to 91, and property crimes fell 14 per cent. Overall offences reported for January to September decreased marginally from 4 646 to 4 567.
sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb
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