There have been at least 39 murders in Barbados between January and November 2022 (up from 34 last month). My analysis is based solely on media reporting (at the time of this post various media outlets have the murder count at 40). The steps involved in the following analysis are similar to my 2020 analysis.
For the latest raw numbers, please visit: murders.opendatabarbados.org.
Note to Table 1: Data was obtained from reports in the Media and keyed into an Excel sheet for end of month analysis. However, the same data is also keyed into the online database at murders.opendatabarbados.org for immediate access.
Notes to Chart 1: 7 (18%) of the 39 murders took place in August. There has been an average of 3.5 murders per month (Jan to Nov period).
Note to Chart 2: 24 (62%) of the 39 took place in the parish of St. Michael.
Note to Table 2: I’ve added per capita by parish values because looking at the absolute value of murders by parish, without taking into consideration the population by parish, does not tell the complete picture. However, the population values by parish are not current and are based on 2010 census data.
Note to Chart 4: 30 (81%) of the 37 murders, excluding Unknown, were shooting related.
Notes to Chart 5: Age data was available for 38 of the 39 victims. Excluding Unknown, 18 (47%) of the victims fell into the 25 to 34 year old age group. The average age of victims was 35.3 years old. Youngest victims were 20 years old, while the eldest victim was 86.
Note to Chart 6: The first female murder victim of the year was 44-year-old Caroline Baird (shooting related incident in St. Michael). Shortly thereafter (either the same or following day), 86-year-old – who was also the eldest victim to date – Gloria Leacock was killed. I cannot ascertain how it happened, but in terms of where, it was reported as taking place in the parish of St. Peter.
Note to Chart 7: I define the workweek as running from Monday to Thursday, and the weekend as running from Friday to Sunday.
Note to Chart 8: 9 (23%) of the 39 murders happened on Friday.
Note to Chart 9: The time reported in The Media of the incident is what I use to assign murders to one of four time slots. However, it is important to note that in some cases, this may not be when the victim was attacked (or their time of death). For example, in the case of Trey Akeem Kemar Murray (June 7), The Nation reported that police arrived at the scene at 8:15 PM. As that was the only time mentioned, I used this and assigned it to the “F” period: 8 PM to 12 AM. Unknown means there was no time mentioned, or if a time was mentioned, it may not be reliable (in my opinion). That being said, 21 (60%) of the murders, excluding “Unknown” took place between 8 PM and 12 AM.
caribbeansignal.com is the personal blog of Amit Uttamchandani. The information presented here does not represent official crime or murder statistics, nor do they represent the views, beliefs, opinions, et cetera, of Amit’s employers or associates (past or present).
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