Police and defence officials have pledged heightened security across Barbados during the final days of the Crop Over season, vowing to maintain the festival’s clean record this year as thousands descend on both official and private events.
At a press briefing on Thursday to update citizens on plans and strategies to manage what he said was a so far incident-free festival, Commissioner of Police Richard Boyce said The Barbados Police Service in collaboration with the Barbados Defence Force has upped the ante on new security measures, which he expects will boost efforts to maintain the rest of the cultural extravaganza without incident.
Boyce, flanked by his senior command team, said the service continues to be in a state of readiness to police the festival and to ensure residents are safe.
“Especially as it relates to the criminal activities and other antisocial behaviours, we, as the primary law enforcement agency, have undertaken the necessary measures that will realise our stated objectives: that is, making the country safe and secure,” he told reporters gathered at Police Headquarters on Roebuck Street, The City. “We are intimately aware of the concerns which have been raised by members of the public, and we have taken additional security measures to address those issues.”
The commissioner identified such issues as the “indiscriminate use” of firearms in public spaces, the likelihood of becoming victims of robbery and the random use of motorcycles on the streets by performing “life-threatening acts” such as wheelies and other stunts.
“There is also that inclination to trespass on commercial properties around this time and steal various items. Our security plan will also seek to engage the buy-in of the general public in playing their role in making the festival safe. We would expect that members of the public would report any criminal or other suspicious activities to us. We ask that members of the public exercise their civic duties in helping to rid our communities of all antisocial behaviour during our festivities, and also beyond that period,” the top cop said.
Boyce warned that the police and military will not retreat or surrender the assault on crime, but intend to go all out to ensure that security authorities do forfeit the gains made already.
“We are very mindful of the successes which we have made in the fight against a number of criminal elements, and we are determined to maintain a high level of intensity in our efforts to prevent any loss in the achievement which we have made in the fight against the criminal actors,” he cautioned.
“We have been successful in taking a number of high-powered illegal weapons out of the hands of the criminal community. Incidentally, only last Saturday, we were able to seize two illegal high-powered weapons, and a hand gun, along with 69 rounds of ammunition out of the hands of the criminal element. During this period, we, in the security services, will be engaged in targeted operations which will be driven by a high level of intelligence against those persons who are bent on executing criminal acts.”
Commissioner Boyce revealed that so far this year, police have seized 41 guns, compared to 35 last year.
He noted the police service’s success is also reflected in an increase in the amount of ammunition confiscated — 479 rounds this year as opposed to 431 rounds last year. He identified the categories of weapons seized as the AR-15s or military-type firearms and the 9mm handguns.
Commissioner Boyce expressed “grave concern” at the presence of this “battlefield” calibre of weapons in the hands of callous young men.
“But whether rifle or small weapons, they are still deadly weapons. So, we still have to be mindful of that, and make sure that we take the necessary measures to act against those persons who are in possession of those weapons. That is continuing through our operations to get those weapons out of the country,” the police chief said.
Turning specifically to managing this weekend’s mass events, the police chief outlined the tough strategies to be enforced.
“The various mass crowd activities such as Foreday Mornin’ and Grand Kadooment will be heavily policed with the assistance of private security agencies. We will be employing various pieces of technology to assist us in policing these events,” Boyce announced.
“The aspect of traffic management will also be given special attention. The practice of indiscriminately parking vehicles along the highway will be addressed by the patrol officers, and where obstructions are caused on our roads, our wreckers will be utilised in removing those vehicles.”
The police commissioner added: “An early warning is being given to those persons who are inclined to consume high levels of alcohol and drive their vehicles while being under the influence of that substance. My advice to those persons, is to desist from such behaviour and resort to having someone who is not drinking alcohol to drive those vehicles.”
He also addressed security at the many privately-organised Crop Over fetes on cards for the coming weekend.
“I have noticed that there will be a large number of satellite activities taking place outside of state-sponsored events. We in the Police Service and the Barbados Defence Force are very mindful of these, for a need to have an absence of violence at these satellite activities. As a consequence, we will pay the necessary attention to the locations which are known to us,” Boyce assured.
“We have been in discussion with the private promoters, but they are fully aware that our first clients are the state-sponsored events, and we have been pushing that for a while now and they fully understand. Because of that, they engage private security to assist them in managing and policing their private events. But we are still on board with them because we have our patrols out there, and we will show our presence and interact with persons at these private events and make sure that everything is going well,” the police commissioner added.
“All the events surrounding the Crop Over activities have been incident-free thus far, and we in the security agencies expect that we are on track to maintain that behaviour, along with the combined support of the law-abiding citizens of the country—not forgetting the many visitors who will be visiting our shores to enjoy the major events on the Crop Over calendar.”
He urged Barbadians to host “our friends” from the neighbouring islands and internationally in an atmosphere of peace and harmony.
In response to a question posed by a reporter, the police commissioner gave the assurance that no terrorist or other similar threats have come to their attention in the final days of the festival.
emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb
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