By: Staff Writer
January 31, 2023
A former Deputy Commissioner of Police of Barbados, turned author, says that the proliferation of guns and drugs brought about by the illicit drug trade is now “entrenched” in Caribbean societies from the North to the South and s new model for policing is needed to stem the wave of bloodshed that has come with it.
Bertie Hinds, told Caribbean Magazine Plus that his new book, “Policing Dynamic Barbados,” touches on all of the factors that is affecting the crime wave in the Caribbean from Grenada and St Vincent to The Bahamas and Jamaica, no stone us left unturned.
Mr Hinds further told us about writing the book, “You build up the skills and the knowledge, so you just put it on paper. I had I had the distinct pleasure of heading the research and development department of the police force for six years. So, I developed all of the policy papers and that sort of thing and I supported the senior staff to a certain extent.”
His years of being at the top level of the Barbados police force helped him to get a bird’s eye view of policing strategies around the world and not just in the Caribbean and all of that is brought to bear in his writing. “I decided to put it on paper, plus my background is a University degree in the history of law and a Master’s degree in criminology and that helped to guide the book, ‘Policing a dynamic Barbados.’
He continued, “My next book is criminal justice and the police, some Contemporary Perspectives. It will be a book for the constabulary and its publics.”
Policing a dynamic Barbados is not solely for the jurisdiction of Barbados, but can be accepted and appreciated by the wider English speaking Caribbean. Mr Hinds said: “My first book, ‘The Impact Justice Programme,’ the University of the West Indies bought some copies and distributed them to all the Prime Ministers, all the Attorney General’s and all of the Commissioners of Police and I have I have my contacts with police officers in the region.
“I have been able to sell a few and I am continuing to market it, but I still have quite a few books on my hand and would wish that I can dispose some of them in the region internationally. A couple of people in the United States and Canada and Britain have bought some of them also, so my marketing strategy this year, I would make a bit more aggressive.”
The consultant criminologist also shared insights on the crime wave hitting more peaceful Caribbean countries like Grenada and St Vincent and the Grenadines. “The way I would put it the Caribbean is experiencing over the past couple of years a wave of drugs and guns because of a culture, which is now entrenched in Caribbean countries.
“It seems as though that we have to look at new ways of fighting the menace and whatnot, of drugs. As a matter of fact, we need a new model of policing.”
This new model cannot be built on top of and with the old establishes systems of policing in the Caribbean and needs “Leadership with strategic thought and strategic focus.” The new leadership of this new model for policing must be trained in academic disciplines like law, sociology and criminology and take a holistic view of crime and the society. “We need people who are more in tune to strategic thought, need people in those higher echelons, who are better educated in terms of criminal justice, and better educated in terms of criminal justice, criminology and sociology.
“Many of our senior officers do not have that foundation and they rely on some training that they are given any region, which is still a bit old fashioned. We need to enhance it and we need to get far more police officers to engage in meaningful self-development. They can build intellectual capacity to drive future policing in the region.”