Guns, guns and more guns… Welcome to the new Barbados

We’ve seen it bad before, but never this bad.

We’ve had shootings before, but never so many and never have we seen so many young people so casually willing to murder others. Or try to.

Folks shooting each other in the legs like that makes it okay. Guess these little wild animals never heard of the femoral artery – one little poke an a person bleeds out in two minutes if nothing is done. And considering how long it takes to get an ambulance to respond anywhere on this rock, my advice is to do everything you can to get the shooting victim to the Queen Elizabeth right away.

Way things are going, before they are taught to read the children should be taught to duck and cover, and after the shooting ends to apply pressure to the wound. Way things are going, learning how to apply a tourniquet early on is far more valuable than the three Rs… reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmatic.

What the hell is happening ’bout hey?

debajan has some thoughts…

I Gun Talk Straight!

ENOUGH. Let me start again. TOO MUCH!

The gun situation or more precisely the shooting situation is horrendous. When submachine guns turn up in Nelson Street, it gives deeper meaning to the term gung ho.

What is the seeming fascination with guns? A feeling of power? Needed for protection? Status symbol? Bloodlust? Imagine all of these in a single person. Whatever the reasons, recent history has brought even the loudest advocates of privacy, and individual rights to the point of volunteering to surrender some rights and be willing to submit to random stop and search in order to tackle the gun problem.

Quite frankly, I don’t care whether gun amnesty only nets a small fraction of illegal weapons. Try it. If increased police patrols only detect a small amount of crime, do them. If police are short of vans, have more foot, bike and segway patrols. Any and all of this would do more than having a station full of desk jockeys telling callers “We have no vehicle” or “The car has gone to a more serious matter” or “There are several reports ahead of yours” when the gunman who just broke into your home can still be seen halfway down your lane.

The criminals are bolder and more aggressive. They are also often more stupid. For a start, in believing that they are going to get away with their crimes. So we, the citizenry, have to be smarter – in the way we prevent, detect, report, prosecute and punish crime. Our response has to be that we will not let up. What are we going to do?

… continue reading I Gun Talk Straight at debajan

Elvis Graham shot but okay. Monsta Grill owner targeted in late night attack.

by Passin Thru

Damn.

Monsta Grill owner Elvis Graham was shot multiple times – reports say six times – in the wee hours after Wednesday night’s fete. He’s doing alright but one of the slugs (so says a friend) was too close to the femoral artery so will be removed after some further scans. Maybe another doctor is coming in, who knows? Nobody says anything on this rock.

Elvis Graham – shot six times, but recovering.

Four thugs made the employees lie down on the ground and threatened to kill the women, to make Elvis give up the evening deposit.

But the evening deposit had already left the place, so Elvis gave up everything he had but it wasn’t enough, so they shot he in the legs three times and also in the elbow, side of the chest and face.

Elvis is a good man: kind to employees, respected by customers for being fair, and takes no nonsense from trouble-makers, but kindly and with peace-making style.

The arrest and conviction of these four gang thugs (that is the rumour, they are from the north) should be the first priority of our police.

Surround their homes. Give they one chance to surrender.

And if they come out blasting or don’t come out…

The police should kill they dead. Six shots each.

No trial necessary. You put a pistol in the mouth of a crying pregnant woman lying face down in the dirt… you deserve to die.

Passin thru

DeBajan on the latest ZR crash

“You might think it unfathomable that the Ministry of Transport would license (for a fee) a random group of people intended to take care of the crucial mass transit sector without first ensuring the content, the level or the frequency of their training. Unfortunately this is the case in Barbados.”

More well worth reading at DeBajan Public Transport Matters

One student critical, twenty-two injured by reckless ZR driver

More young students critically injured by another ZR maniac driver.

14 year old student Zakiyah DeFreitas lost her left hand and 21 others received lesser injuries when a ZR van overturned in The City yesterday. The van flipped near the entrance to the nursery Drive Terminal.

Twenty-two students in a ZR van? Of course it overturned at the slightest provocation. Top heavy, overloaded, too fast. Half the time driven by maniacs with dozens of convictions – or in the case of ZR driver Cyril O’Bryan Archer one hundred and ninety-eight driving convictions prior to being found guilty of dangerous driving in the death of bicyclist Errol Thornhill on route taxi AR42 in 2010.

Insurance? What’s that? Half the ZR vans don’t have insurance and the police don’t seem to care.

Yesterday’s incident is only the latest. More will follow next month. It’s been this way for a decade or more. TripAdvisor calls ZR Drivers “Hustling Pimps“.

Our leaders don’t care, and don’t do anything to stop the slaughter.

Photo courtesy of The Nation

 

The Bajan way? Set the house on fire – shoot the intended victim when they try to put out the fire

Dear Barbados Free Press,

Or should I say “Dear Lord, OH LORD!”

Is there something I’m missing about living on this rock? Have you ever seen and heard of so much violence?

Neipaul Trotman (above) is shot and murdered at Fitts Beach in broad daylight at 11am while playing with his infant son. A dozen tourists witness his execution. Then a day or two later Cyprian Payne was sleeping when somebody firebombed the home. The man comes out to fight the fire and is shot numerous times, and is hanging onto his life by a thread at the hospital.

We built a pedestrian overpass at The Pine so that folks could safely cross the ABC highway and now thugs are throwing concrete building blocks onto the vehicles below. There have been several serious incidents and injured motorists.

A week ago Dwayne Johnson was traveling in a ZR van when he had words with another man. Only words. That man shot him in the back right in the ZR van!

Am I going crazy, or is this island going crazy? It never used to be like this.

Yours truly,

Mr. Meters.

British hero soldier Brian Mulligan stabbed to death in Barbados

No arrests reported

Brian Mulligan has been worth only a paragraph or two if that in the local news media since his stabbing death early Sunday morning at the tourist-popular St. Lawrence Gap, Christ Church. Today the British papers are full of his photos in Barbados and holding his new-born. (London Evening Standard: London father-of-two stabbed to death in Barbados…)

At this point, who knows what happened? Mr. Mulligan was mostly deaf after having both ears ruptured by a grenade in Iraq. He had been here for a few weeks working for Lime Telecom.

One thing we do know though: this island does not feel the way it felt even five years ago, and ignoring the problem is no solution.

Today the world’s newspapers are full of Brian Mulligan’s death in Barbados, but once again a foreign national has died at a Bajan tourist area and we see nothing in our own news media. No words from the PM or the Tourism Minister. No press conference by the police to communicate that Barbados is horrified and doing everything it can to find the culprits.

Nope. None of that… while the world’s news media goes big on the story. Just like what happened when Canadian tourist Terry Schwarzfeld was murdered.

How long until our leaders recognize that you can’t hide stuff like this anymore?

British tourist complains of dangerous bus rides “Lucky to be alive”

Dear Barbados Free Press,

So sorry to hear of yet another serious bus crash here in Barbados. I am not in the least surprised as my husband and I who are on holiday from England think ourselves lucky to be alive after a horrendous yellow bus ride last Friday!! We had lunch at Mullins Beach and were returning to Holetown when we refused to get on one bus as it was well overloaded.

We got on the next bus to find ourselves being shouted at to move back up the bus to let more people on. There was no room to move and we hung on for grim death, even the fare collector was hanging out the door! 

An enforced building code would have prevented this accident and saved a tourism scandal

British court decision could harm Bajan tourism

• How Briton who walked into glass door in a bikini could push up the price of holidays after winning £24,000 payout
• Moira Japp, 53, won the claim against Virgin Holidays for the 2008 accident
• She sued because the door in her room was not made of toughened glass
• Ruling could mean greater costs for UK holidaymakers

A compensation payout to a holidaymaker who suffered life-threatening injuries after walking into a glass door in her bikini is threatening to leave the UK travel industry in chaos, top judges have heard.

Lawyers have warned that an award to Moira Japp, who was hurt during her stay at an exclusive Caribbean hotel, will ‘create great difficulties for the tourist industry’ by expecting ‘far-flung exotic places’ to comply with British health and safety standards.

Mrs Japp had been relaxing on her balcony at the Crystal Cove Hotel in Barbados when she heard a phone ring inside, and accidentally walked into the closed French windows which led into her room.

The glass shattered and she suffered deep lacerations all over her body which, according to her lawyers, could have been life-threatening.

In October last year Mrs Japp, 53, from Worthing, West Sussex, sued trip organisers Virgin Holidays Limited and was awarded £24,000 damages.

However the company are now asking the Appeal Court to overturn that decision.

Read the full article at the Daily Mail

Two British tourists shot in broad daylight – Sunday afternoon walkabout in Bridgetown

UPDATED: Latest radio reports indicate a purse snatching – and when the tourists resisted both were shot.

Does the Barbados Tourism Authority have an action team in place now?

Serious Injuries: 70 year-old man shot in side, woman shot in thigh

The debate over the ‘cash for gold’ businesses and the growing number of street robberies took another serious turn today when two elderly tourists were shot in broad daylight in the city. We are speculating that the motive was robbery because precious little information has made its way to the television and radio even 7 hours after the first report.

“Two tourists shot on a Sunday in broad daylight? Everybody should be working full days to find out what happened and to arrest those responsible.

We should be looking after the injured tourists and keeping their loved-ones informed.

We’re only talking our entire economy here, ya know!”

What we do know is contained in the Nation article below.

There are good and bad things happen to tourists all over the world, but Barbados has to this point maintained a reputation as a generally safe destination as long as people use the same care that they would when back home – doan be walking down dark sidestreets at 2am and expect nothing to happen. That is true in Paris, London, New York and Bridgetown.

On the other hand, if two elderly tourists can’t be safe on Hincks Street at 2pm on a Sunday afternoon, then we have some real, heavy trouble.

Were they from a cruise ship or yacht? Perhaps taking a long walkabout? Did they take a taxi into the city for some shopping? That might be the case. On the other hand (and we are just wild talking here) suppose that the two tourists were trying to purchase drugs or engaging in some other high risk activity? This is just wild talking on are part to make the point that the information matters, and getting that information to the public matters too. Is there a madman on the run? Was this a robbery that went bad? Was it fallout from a domestic dispute? Bajans should know something more by this time than we currently know.

Only last week a Brit wrote to Barbados Free Press and said he and his wife wouldn’t be returning. (See BFP’s “With great sadness and best wishes” a British tourist says goodbye to Barbados forever)

What is known so far…     

“With great sadness and best wishes” a British tourist says goodbye to Barbados forever

Daytime tourist robbery costs us another loyal visitor

Dear Sir/Madam

I have today read the report of Barry Alleyne concerning the theft of jewellery from visitors and tourists. I believe the problem is far worse than perceived and is being suppressed/under-reported. I am not convinced that the police have any effective crime pattern analysis to know where they should be actively patrolling, advising visitors and undertaking their duty of protection of all people, and especially tourists.

On Friday 1 March 2013, in Bay Street near Harbour Lights, my wife was violently assaulted, injured and robbed of two valuable necklaces, by two young local low-life, cowardly, vile thugs. The police were less than effective in their caring treatment of my wife and their lack of effective evidence gathering left me less than impressed or confident in they had the resources or ability to gather evidence or investigate crime in a meaningful manner.

We have walked this route many times having been advised it was safe to do so. It can no longer currently be regarded as safe for tourists.

The disturbing aspect for Barbadian authorities is that this violent robbery took place in broad daylight, just after nine in the morning, during the rush hour with many witnesses. Some serious questions now need answering by the various Authorities and politicians.

“We have been coming to Barbados for many years since my wife loves the island and climate for her health, and loves the many friends and decent hard-working Bajan people that we have met.”

However, my duty is to protect my wife from unnecessary risk. It had been our intention to return to Barbados year on year for as long as we could afford it and were healthy enough to do it. We were already booked to come next year. I am now intending to cancel this with great sadness and it is likely we will never return. There are many safer places for tourists. I will be advising my extended family accordingly, as well as writing to the many contacts I have within the UK tourism industry including large Cruise companies, the UK police, Foreign Office and others.

This robbery, of course, is my main distress, but there are many other visitors who agree that other serious issues are fast going downhill here and need addressing.

Barbados Tourism Authority responds to TripAdvisor commenter

Three days and 150 comments later…

A few days ago we told you about Mr. Frank James, who posted a comment on TripAdvisor.com about his poor experience vacationing at The Gap. Our story Barbados Tourism Authority, police need to read this TripAdvisor conversation about The Gap detailed Mr. James complaints and resulted in some other negative comments about the sad state of affairs at The Gap – an area that used to be known for its vibrant nightlife and as a friendly and safe venue.

It apparently took 3 days and 150+ comments, but the Barbados Tourism Authority replied to Mr. James. Alright, good… but why wasn’t the BTA all over this from the first day? There is no reason why they should not have seen Mr. James’ complaint on the first day. That is the standard I would expect from our national agency looking after the mainstay of our economy…

Good morning Mr. James,

Your letter has been passed on to me by Mr. David Rice, our President. Firstly please let me say how very sorry we are that you have had to experience such annoyance during what was supposed to have been a very peaceful and romantic vacation. We are none the less grateful that you have brought this matter to our attention and we assure you that we will be meeting with the Police Liaison Officer to address these matters. As you can imagine this is most embarrassing and annoying for us as a destination and will do all possible to have this very distressing practice curtailed. We shall get back to you with our results and sincerely hope that you will give us another opportunity to welcome you back to Barbados and to try in some way to make it up to you.

Regards

Gerald A. Cozier

Manager Corporate Affairs/Quality Assurance
Barbados Tourism Authority

Barbados Tourism Authority, police need to read this TripAdvisor conversation about The Gap

Tourist Frank James complains about drugs, beggars, harassment – and no police at The Gap

With almost 50 replies in the first few hours a new post about The Gap is gaining momentum at TripAdvisor. Unfortunately, tourist Frank James and his girlfriend recently had some problems while visiting The Gap. While some of the folks chipping in on the discussion think he’s over-reacting, others back him entirely even as they support Barbados as one of their favourite vacation destinations.

Bottom line: Both the BTA and the Royal Barbados Police Force should follow this TripAdvisor thread because (as one of the TripAdvisor Barbados experts points out) the complaints of Mr. James are becoming all too common. There is something going wrong at The Gap.

TripAdvisor: Disappointed with the Gap

Breaking: ANOTHER mass casualty bus accident – 11 injured near Globe Drive-In, Christ Church

UPDATED: Sunday, March 18, 2012  12:17am Bridgetown

Everybody is alive. ZR van went onto its side, car spun upside down along the road. Some injuries. More information at The Nation.

Saturday, March 17, 2012 – 8:12pm Bridgetown

We’ve lost count of how many public transit accidents there have been in the last week. Is it three or four? The most serious so far was last Thursday when a mini-bus overturned and left 37 injured. Five passengers are critical, including Troy Codrington – the last remaining adult male in the Codrington family of the Arch Cot disaster.

The toll of ruined lives, broken bones and faces destroyed continued this Saturday evening with the crash of a route taxi near the Globe Drive-In. All we know so far is 9 children and 2 adults injured.  (Nation News: Report of serious accident near the Globe Drive-In.)

File photo of ZR taxi by Shona

Barbados Tourism Disaster: Serial rape victims slam police, government, tourism authorities

Daylight rape near popular beach – scene of 13 reported rapes in past year – tourists not alerted – police did nothing

Police “callous, incompetent, totally inept”

“Barbados authorities are more concerned about protecting the lucrative tourist industry than they are about seeking justice.”

Police “try to brush the rapes under the carpet so as not to damage the overseas tourist market”

Questions about the role of racism in the attacks and lack of police response

British tourist and serial rape victim Diane Davies is going public in a major news story about how she was raped in broad daylight near the “Platinum Coast” Sandy Lane Hotel. On Monday, October 25, 2010 the 62 year old grandmother was beaten and raped at the same spot where another tourist had been raped just two days earlier and where 13 women had been raped in the previous year.

The Barbados Police never alerted citizens and tourists about the serial rapist in the area, nor did they make serious efforts to arrest the serial rapist.

Perhaps Police Commissioner Dottin can explain why he didn’t care enough to order a stake-out of the serial rapist’s chosen spot, or alert women in the area that they were at a high risk of rape?

Instead, and as usual, the Barbados Police played their role in what has become an all-too-familiar story of covering up crime against tourists.

Our government, police and tourism authorities just don’t get it: The way to protect our lucrative tourism industry is to protect the tourists – and when something does happen, to immediately respond with professionalism, massive resources and genuine care and compassion for the victim.

Millions of prospective tourists around the world are now reading…

“The truth is that if a woman  is raped in Barbados, she is unlikely to get the support she needs. There are almost no procedures in place and the police are way behind in how they tackle crime.”

British tourist and serial rape victim Diane Davies in the Daily Mail story I was viciously raped on this Barbados beach but local police cared more about protecting tourism, says brave British grandmother

Memories of murdered tourist Terry Schwarzfeld

Murdered Canadian tourist Terry Schwarzfeld

Our government, police and tourism industry obviously learned nothing from the February 28, 2009 daylight beach murder of Canadian tourist Terry Schwarzfeld. Mrs. Schwarzfeld’s murder came after her killer had committed a series rapes and robberies at the same spot over the course of several years.

The police and tourism authorities covered up the crimes and ineptly left the serial criminal to continue his business at his usual location. That cover-up and incompetence is part of the reason that Mrs. Schwarzfeld was murdered on a tourist beach in broad daylight.

Then when Mrs. Schwarzfeld was murdered there was the usual total lack of proper response from the authorities.

Drug dealing Barbados Police Officer found dead

RBPF Constable Torey Brathwaite dies at father’s home

The police aren’t saying much other than 25 year old Torey Brathwaite was found by his father on Thursday morning. There is no indication if drugs or foul play are suspected.

Constable Brathwaite had been suspended since he was arrested in December 2008 for possession and trafficking in cocaine. The amount of drugs involved was over a kilo, so this man was no little fish. Oh sure, a kilo of coke is not a shipping container, but it’s not a couple of baggies of herb if you understand what I’m saying here.

I’m sorry for his parents, his family and his school friends who say he wasn’t a bad fellow, nevermind his recent new troubles and that bad decision two years ago that cost him so dearly.

Mostly I feel sorry for Barbados and yes, for Commissioner Dottin, and for the many many good police officers who give it their best every day as they try to make do with inadequate equipment, poor laws and a budget and salaries that mock our claim to be the Caribbean’s premier high end tourist destination.

Barbados High Court Judge: Public execution murders and witnesses won’t testify, undermining courts.

When the police cannot or will not protect witnesses, can we expect anything else?

High court Justice Randall Worrell (above) is worried about a trend that is undermining our court system and threatening the very fabric of our society: after witnessing their friends murdered on the street in execution-style killings, witnesses don’t want to testify to the point that they are changing their stories or running off the island.

Well, do ya think? Consider that most of the time when the police are called, they take their own sweet time to arrive. A month or so ago there was a gun battle at a football match in Boscobel and the police never arrived for almost an hour! At the Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary shots were fired the police never came at all.

Facebook: Stolen in Barbados

Hi BFP

I found this ‘Stolen in Barbados’ Facebook page with over 700 ‘likes’. It’s a place to discuss crime in Barbados and to put your stolen stuff on the internet so people will know its yours if they find it or someone tries to sell it.

It could develop into something.

(Name withheld by request)

Barbados school children dive for ground as man shot near playing field

Police spokesperson: “The children were not in danger”

On Tuesday morning, 10:40am, during school hours, 150 children and 3 teachers of the Springer Memorial School were at the Blenheim Playing Field when a 23 year old man was shot twice near the western end of the playing field. News reports don’t say how many shots were fired in total.

The teachers yelled at the children to lay flat on the ground as the gunshots rang out nearby.

Royal Barbados Police Force public relations officer Inspector David Welch has the idiocy to say “From the reports, the children were not in danger.”

That’s not a very intelligent statement from the Inspector for a host of reasons, not the least of which is that wild pistol fire has been responsible in the past for deaths at great distances. According to the law enforcement range charts on the internet, a 9mm pistol round can be lethal (not accurate, but still lethal) to 2,400 yards and still impact at 350 feet per second. Even a little .22 bullet can kill at one mile.

What really irks me as a parent is this senior police officer telling us no worries, the children were safe. That is nothing but spin and parents are not stupid enough to buy into that spin. Inspector David Welch lost all credibility with me.

(name withheld by request)

Further Reading

Nation News: Shooting leaves man injured