13 killed in 22

Dominica’s status as a peaceful and loving natural island, some argue, is under challenge.

This comes as the country is suffering from more gun-related deaths and 12 homicides this year.

Earlier in the year, Police Chief Daniel Carbon boasted of a 40% reduction in Dominica’s homicide rate in 2021 compared to 2020.

Carbon reported nine murders in 2021 compared to 15 in 2020, eight of which he said were solved by police.

However, seven months into 2022, Dominica’s homicide rate has almost doubled that of the previous year, a development that many, including Homeland Security Minister Rayburn Blackmore, say is troubling.

According to Blackmore, the 2022 citizenship report named the Commonwealth of Dominica as the third safest country in Latin America and the Caribbean and the 31st safest country in the world. However, he said, the recent increase in firearms violations, if not stopped immediately, will not only negatively affect Dominica’s Global Peace Index, but seriously damage the country’s social and economic fabric.

“We’re in the month of July and so far we’ve had 10 shooting incidents, eight of which have been fatalities, seven of which have been ruled homicides,” Blackmore said. “Brothers and sisters, this is a serious threat to national security. This threat must be faced.”

For the year so far, 35 illegal firearms have been seized by the police compared to 25 seized in 2021.

According to Blackmore, his ministry will continue to provide the police force with the necessary support to respond quickly and adopt a zero tolerance level for the use of firearms to commit offences.

Criminologist and sociologist Dr. Peter KB St. Jean has also warned of the impact of rising crime rates in Dominica.

From his assessment of crime in Dominica, Dr. St Jean explained that most of the murders so far are related to murders from five to 10 years ago.

“So what happens is, for every murder that happens, there’s a 0.5 to 2.5 probability that other murders could be linked in the future to just one murder, and depending on how high profile that murder is , there’s a higher probability that someone could die within a very short time,” he said. “That means for every two murders that occur, you’ll have one to five new killers within seven to in 10 years.”

He further asserted that the economic condition of a country also contributes to its crime rate and as such encouraged the government to restore the independence of citizens and reduce the need to rely as much on government officials and earn revenue legal independence through effective networking.

The Dominican-born called on the government to adopt his 2011 Dominica Peace Initiative, which was submitted to the government to curb violence on the island.
Meanwhile, social activist and environmentalist, Atherton ‘Athie’ Mart?n claimed that a community approach is needed to curb crime, as a collaboration between the police and the community can identify and solve community problems.

“The problem started when we stopped paying attention to each other when we stopped loving love and replaced it with nurturing wealth, nurturing money, big house, valuing great work, even when we knew we didn’t deserve it, we we still had a crush on him. and we stopped caring,” Mart?n said. “When you stop caring, it becomes easier to use a cut or a stone or a gun, instead of using words and thoughts, in a conversation, in a story that reaches a more permanent solution.”