Barbados’ murder rate has declined this year and Commissioner of Police Richard Boyce says it reflects not only tighter intelligence-led policing but also a string of high-profile arrests that underscored the success of joint operations between the Barbados Police Service (BPS), the Barbados Defence Force (BDF) and other law enforcement partners.
While the overall crime rate is trending downward by about three per cent, Boyce admitted that robberies have increased, driven largely by youth involvement and a desire for gold.
In an interview yesterday, Boyce disclosed that 35 murders have been recorded so far in 2025, down from 40 during the same period
last year, even as police successfully captured several “high-value targets” who, he said, were fuelling much of the recent criminal activity.
“Those arrests are testimony to the effectiveness of the measures we’ve put in place,” Boyce said.
“We spent real, real expensive hours trying to deal with those high-value targets and we have been successful in a big way. We will continue to look at those individuals and work accordingly to have them taken out of the equation – that is, arrested and charged for these serious crimes.”
The Commissioner described the drop in murders as “commendable”, especially given the number of times officers had to be deployed to prevent the killing of intended targets.
“The slight reduction in murders is commendable when one takes into consideration the number of occasions when our officers had to be deployed to prevent the murder of a particular target. Our efforts have been commendable in this respect,” he said.
Boyce credited the gains to close cooperation between the Barbados Police Service and the Barbados Defence Force under Operation Restore Order, which was designed to tackle violent.
“The Barbados Police Service has continued its operational strategies to address the overall management of crime and other uncivil behaviours which have been affecting some communities in recent times. This targeted response has been heavily supported by the involvement of a number of officers from the Barbados Defence Force.”
Boyce said the collaboration had allowed the police to maintain a strong presence in vulnerable areas, while targeting organised crime through the Serious Organised Crime and Major Crimes Unit.
“Those units work around the clock to get ahead of the perpetrators, who from all evidence, were bent on committing some of the most heinous crimes,” he explained.
“This was often enabled mainly by the use of firearms and, to a lesser extent, knives.”
So far, 52 firearms have been seized this year, compared with 56 for the same period in 2024, alongside 2 130 rounds of ammunition, up sharply from 485 rounds last year.
“There is a strong correlation between the number of murders which are committed and the high number of illegal firearms which are in the hands of the criminal element. That is why our human and technical resources are utilised to seize these weapons and take them out of the hands of the criminal-minded,” the Commissioner said.
“Of serious concern for
the Police Service has been the number and frequency of the acts of robberies which have been occurring over time. We have identified a cohort of young persons between the ages of 13 and 19 as being the main perpetrators of these robberies,” he said.
“We have arrested and charged a number of persons for some of these offences and our intervention will be sustained in partnership with other social agencies and non-governmental entities,” Boyce added.
He said community policing and preventative programmes would remain at the forefront..
“Our Crime Prevention Trust will be in the forefront of how we tackle this crime situation,” he explained.
“We have discussed policing interventions to reach out to these young persons and steer them away from such deviant behaviours.”
Boyce also revealed that the Police Service was continuing to build its technological capacity to manage crime, particularly through surveillance and intelligence systems.
“We will continue to build out our technological capacity in the effort to deal with the management of crime. Whether it is the placement of cameras in additional areas, especially those places which have been identified as crime-prone, we are committed to making these communities safer.”
He added that the Police Service was “very conscious of the need to manage the crime situation at an acceptable level” and would continue to strengthen partnerships with other agencies.
“As we move into the last quarter of 2025, we in the law enforcement community are fully aware that we have to redouble our efforts in getting the management of crime back to a low level – one which is acceptable to us. We are very confident in realising that objective,” the Commissioner said. (CLM)
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