A top official with Crime Stoppers Barbados is warning of the far-reaching impact that crime against tourists will have on the country’s tourism-dependent economy.
Director and head of business development for Crime Stoppers International, Devrol Dupigny, said such crimes could cause untold damage to the country. He recently met with officers of the Royal Barbados Police Force and that issue was identified as one of the many areas of concern for lawmen.
The Crime Stoppers representative said the agency, which operates the anonymous tip hotline –– 1 800 8477 (TIPS) –– is working with the police to help deal with the problem. Dupigny is urging residents not to remain silent and to report these and other crimes.
“We will be working with them [police] from both a mass media perspective, if necessary, or from a community perspective because there may be particular crimes committed against tourists in particular areas and not particularly across Barbados; so once we have that understanding as to the type of issues, how the particular crimes are being committed . . . we are able to develop, design appropriate communication materials, work with the community whether we would put stickers, whether we would put signage or other types of communication materials to make the community comfortable that there is an anonymous way to report,” he said.
“These crimes . . . are affecting our economy; they are affecting our global image. We are asking everyone, all those who may have any sort of information on anyone who is perpetrating these types of crimes against our tourists to come forward with that information,” Dupigny said.