Cops ‘taking guns off streets’

A powerful, deadly, firearm is in circulation and Commissioner of Police Richard Boyce has vowed the Police Service will do all in its power to get it off the streets.

The gun, said to be a fully automatic AR style rifle or AK-47, was said to have been used to gun down a young man at Silver Sands, Christ Church, last month.

Speaking to a Nation team Thursday on the crime situation which has gripped the country for the past several weeks and resulted in a number of young men being gunned down in quick succession, the Commissioner stated: “Unfortunately, one of the weapons is a high-powered weapon, and that is of grave concern to us. It is a weapon which is not easily available. When we see it being put into operation, we know we have a battle on our hands and we would take every step and make every effort to retrieve that weapon.”

He added: “The persons who are tasked to look into the situation, they are working around the clock and no doubt we will succeed going forward. Before, they were mostly light weapons, that is, small, ordinary weapons. But when we see it step up, it tells us that it will be a battle for the long haul.

“I’m saying we will not stop and we will not leave any stones unturned until we get everything under control, where firearm offences and activities are concerned,” he assured.

The Commissioner  also reported that the police was successful so far in recovering a number of the illegal firearms and bullets being used while confirming that ballistic tests showed a number of these guns were used in more than one murder.

“It tells you that persons, at least persons who have these weapons, they are moving around and it’s not at least a large number of persons. For us, it is a small group of persons who are just moving from district to district and creating this type of havoc,” he noted.

While many have been calling the shootings gang-related, the top cop stated this current spike in crime was not mostly gang-related but what he called a “a mix”.

“It is a mix, a mix in terms of persons who were once affiliated with close gangs. Those are persons now who operate on their own and taking their own action against their enemies or rivals or whoever. So it’s not mostly gang-related.”

He assured the public that the police have been mobilised to deal with this uptick in violent crime.

“What I would say upfront to you is that the situation as it relates to the recent spike in criminal activities in the country, especially during the month of June this year when we saw the spike, it has been a major concern to the Barbados Police Service.

“Unfortunately, those criminal events have been heightened or accentuated by the use of firearms, which have created a high level of fear within the island. The entire body of the Police Service has been mobilised to assist in the fight against this scourge. Importantly, we as a primary law enforcement agency have taken appropriate measures to address this fallout and return calm and order and peace of mind to the respective communities that are being impacted.

“Now, already we have activated an enhanced serious organised crime unit, which is headed by a seasoned investigator in conjunction with a team of dedicated officers to lead the fight against this criminal element. We are witnessing already measures of success as it relates to the arrest of some of these persons who have been responsible for generating a number of these acts.

“These acts were done with the use of firearms. We have also recovered a number of firearms and ammunition. Additionally, we have deployed a number of officers in some of the challenged communities to engage the residents with the intent of strengthening our relationship with them,” he said.

As recently announced by Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, the Commissioner reported that even members of the police band were being deployed to deal with this situation.

“These officers, which I must say include members of the band of the Barbados Police Service, have been going into the streets and they have been welcomed by the residents in these targeted communities. What I would also say is that I, as the Commissioner responsible for safety and security of the island, I want to assure the members of the public that the entire Police Service will continue to work in partnership with each and every community to wrestle this current crime situation to the ground and with the partnership of these communities, we as a body are going to fight against the criminal element.”

He called on members of the public to also work with the police.

“We can do it, we can win this,” Boyce declared. “As I said before, with the support of each and every member of the society, communities, must now step out and lock arms with us, so we can deal with this situation and return the island to peaceful Barbados as we know it. So I’m calling on persons to continue to partner with us, support us, so we can address the situation and more so to ensure that we go into the Crop Over season, knowing full well that everyone is safe and sound and we would have zero tolerance when it comes to criminal activity going forward’ he said.

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