BARBADOS-Government launches campaign against harboring criminals

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC- The Barbados government has launched a new public education campaign reminding citizens of the penalties for harboring gangsters and fugitives.

The Ministry of Legal Affairs and Criminal Justice said the campaign is part of the Ministry’s wider Crime Prevention Program, which started with the release of two public service announcements (PSAs).

One is entitled “Hiding Them Will Cost You,” which warns against harboring fugitives, and the other, “Gran is Not Going to Prison,” addresses harboring gang members.

Legal Affairs and Criminal Justice Minister Michael Lashley explained that while one of the PSAs addressed general penalties for harboring fugitives, the other was specific to the recently passed Criminal Gangs Act, which imposes “very strong” penalties for harboring gang members and for recruiting them.

“Now, I want to say that there will be a wider national education program with respect to crime prevention, and this will involve reaching out to the schools, community engagement and other service clubs. Of course, we need to have all players involved who are touched by and concerned with the Crime Prevention Program….

“We now have to reach out to the public, engage the public, and one of the best ways of reaching out to the public is not using the traditional media but using other forms, particularly whether you call it WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, whatever, to reach persons. And this is the first start of the engagement of community persons because we are using community persons who played a very important part in the development of these two PSAs,” Lashley said.

He said that he wanted Barbadians to view the PSAs not only as warnings but as catalysts to go out and encourage others to join in the fight against crime.

“Yes, in some instances you will be loyal, but you can’t let loyalty bring you into breach of the law, and that is why the Criminal Gangs Act places a specific provision in relation to relationships, and that if these relationships redound to punishment, that the relationship would also act as a mitigating factor, but it’s still an offense,” the Legal Affairs Minister said.

He said that he had full confidence in the new Commissioner of Police, as they reach out and go into communities, since the problem could not be solved by just enforcement, and that said authorities must solve it by reaching into communities and getting persons who are at the brink of “touching the criminal justice system”.

“Persons who are young [and] vulnerable, who might not be part of the criminal justice system, but might be vulnerable to leaders, gang leaders, and drug leaders, and that we must go at the other end and say, you know what, let us get the positive community leaders to be involved in this Crime Prevention Program. So, I want to endorse the PSAs, and I look forward to working with all community groups, all the law enforcement agencies in this fight against crime,” Lashley said.