Deportees and Crime in Barbados

Abstract

This analysis seeks to shed light on the impact of criminal deportees on Caribbean societies by focusing on Barbados. It asks the question: Is it the case that criminal deportees are introducing 'sophisticated' criminal activities to Barbados? To answer this question, the analysis draws upon three sets of data. The first set of data comprises the official statistics of "crimes reported to the Barbados police service" over the 20-year period 1980-1999. The second set comprises the number of criminal deportees arriving in Barbados annually between 1985 and 1999/2000 as supplied by the Criminal Investigations Division (CID) of the Barbados police service. And the third set of data comprises the results of interviews conducted with members of the CID, the Attorney General of Barbados, crime beat reporters, and data gathered from the archives of the Barbados Advocate and the Barbados Nation. Two conclusions are drawn from this analysis.