There have been at least 40 homicides in Barbados between January 1 and September 30. This represents an increase of 17% over the prior period (Jan to Aug). My count, and subsequent analysis, is based exclusively on what is reported by The Media. The numbers and analysis below are not to be treated as official statistics.
Note to Table 1: A new column, “Approach Method,” has been added to the table. This captures, when available through news reports, how the attacker approached the victim. For example, was it a drive-by, or did the assailant(s) drive to the scene, exit the vehicle, and then attack? In both cases, I would categorize it as ‘Motorcar.’ Alternatively, was the attack carried out on foot, such as a fight that broke out in a bar or an attacker approaching the victim on the street? This variable is subjective, as it relies on the specific details available from reports.
22%, of homicides took place in June.
Note to Chart 2: Parish information was available for 39 of the 40 homicides, with the exception of Sonia Parris, as the specific parish where she was attacked is unknown at the time of this post.
43% of homicides took place in St. Michael.
Note to Table 2: Per capita by parish values have been added because looking at the absolute value of homicides by parish, without taking into consideration the population by parish, is not entirely accurate. For example, although St. Michael generally has the highest number of homicides in absolute terms, when we factor in its population size, along with the number of homicides and population sizes in other parishes, St. Michael is not always the highest.
St. Philip has the highest number of homicides per capita (22.8).
Note to Chart 4: The one unknown refers to Sonia Parris. The two homicides categorized as ‘Other’ relate to physical altercations.
73% of homicides were shooting related. 21% were bladed/edged related (i.e., knife, cutlass, et cetera).
As mentioned at the beginning of the article, I am now tracking ‘Approach Method.’
56% of victims fell into the 18 to 24 and 25 to 34-year-old-age group (excluding 3 unknown) The youngest victim was 17-years-old, while the eldest was 58-years-old. The average of age of all victims was 32-years-old.
92% of all homicide victims were Male.
52% of all homicides (excluding unknown) occurred during the workweek (which I define as Monday to Thursday).
23% of all homicides (excluding unknown) occurred on Saturday.
Note to Chart 10: The time reported in The Media of the incident is what I use to assign homicides to one of six 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).
35% of homicides occurred between 8 PM and 12 AM (excluding unknown).
caribbeansignal.com is the personal blog of Amit Uttamchandani. Posts or comments made by Amit on this blog represent His personal views, opinions, thoughts, et cetera. Furthermore, the information presented in this particular do not represent official crime statistics. Finally, the raw data, i.e., the Excel file(s) used to create this post, as well as raw data dumps from the Barbados Homicide Database are available for purchase.