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Barbados has entered a new chapter for its national law enforcement with the swearing-in of Sonia Boyce, the first woman to ever lead the Barbados Police Service. As Commissioner Boyce settles into her new role, members of the public have shared clear priorities they want her administration to prioritize, starting with an urgent crackdown on rising criminal activity, alongside long-overdue action on the social factors driving offending. Boyce officially took office during a ceremony at State House Thursday, where she outlined a leadership agenda centered on institutional reform, increased accountability for officers, more robust criminal investigations, greater on-the-ground police presence, and repairing fractured public trust in the police force.

In interviews with Barbados TODAY, local residents universally ranked crime reduction as the top issue requiring Boyce’s immediate attention. Longtime Barbadian resident Wyville Callender argued that crime must sit at the very top of the new commissioner’s policy agenda, noting that the issue remains one of the most pressing threats to public quality of life. Callender added that Boyce, a veteran established officer with decades of experience in the service, has already proven she is fit for the role, and deserves full backing from rank-and-file officers to succeed in her new position. Beyond high-profile violent offenses, Callender also urged the service to prioritize cracking down on petty and property theft that erodes daily public confidence in safety.

Matthew Smith, a Barbadian who has personally felt the impact of rising violent crime, echoed these calls. Smith shared that gun violence, in particular, has touched his own family, after a cousin suffered severe life-altering injuries in a gun-related incident several years ago. He also pointed to the illegal drug trade as a key root catalyst for much of the violent conflict on Barbados’ streets, noting that turf wars over drug trafficking are responsible for much of the current instability. Smith added that unaddressed crime poses a direct threat to Barbados’ economic backbone, tourism – the main source of national income not just for Barbados, but for many small island developing states across the Caribbean. Lower crime rates, he emphasized, will benefit the entire country by preserving its appeal to international visitors.

Local resident Abraham Sealy echoed these concerns, stressing that out-of-control crime has left many residents feeling unsafe in their own communities, and restoring that sense of safety must be Boyce’s first mission. Sealy noted that protecting Barbados’ global reputation as a safe, welcoming tourist destination is critical to the nation’s long-term survival, emphasizing that visitors should be able to ride public transit, walk through downtown Bridgetown, and explore public spaces without fear of robbery. Like Smith, Sealy highlighted the illegal proliferation of unregistered firearms as one of the most urgent public safety challenges facing the island today.

While violent crime and immediate public safety dominated discussions with older residents, younger Barbadians pushed the new commissioner to also address the underlying social issues that push people into criminal activity, to create long-term, sustainable reductions in offending. Nazaria Jordan-Mayers, a young Barbadian, pointed to rising violence in schools as a growing problem that requires urgent intervention, arguing that unaddressed school disorder creates patterns of violence that spill into communities later in life. She also called on Boyce to lead a public conversation challenging harmful stereotypes about young Barbadians, noting that unfair assumptions that all young people are unruly and uninterested in work can become a self-fulfilling prophecy that harms both youth prospects and national economic growth.

Fellow young resident Shania Husbands echoed this focus on root causes, arguing that expanding economic opportunities for young people is one of the most effective crime prevention measures the government can invest in. Husbands noted that high youth unemployment and a lack of access to entry-level work leaves many young people with no legitimate income, pushing many into street activity and criminal offending. She called for the expansion of long-term employment programs for school leavers and out-of-work youth, providing targeted opportunities for young people to earn income legally so they do not turn to crime to get by.

A disturbing online advertisement offering a weeks-old infant green monkey for sale at $500 has ignited widespread condemnation from tourists and animal welfare advocates, who warn that the growing trade of baby primates for tourist photo opportunities is tarnishing Barbados’ global reputation as an idyllic paradise and relies on violent practices that harm or kill adult primates to separate infants from their families.

This latest controversy has pulled back the curtain on a hidden, cruel trade that has become increasingly common across Barbados’ popular coastal areas: wild primates are systematically captured, torn from their social groups and families, and exploited for quick profit, with handlers parading the infants on busy beaches and even public transit to charge tourists for photos. For long-time visitors and tour operators who bring thousands of travelers to the island each year, this explicit commercial listing has pushed frustration over unaddressed animal exploitation to a breaking point.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a frequent Barbados visitor who organizes regular group tours to the island shared that the visible escalation of animal cruelty has caused deep distress among travelers who arrive expecting a peaceful, ethical tropical getaway. “I come to Barbados constantly, I bring hundreds of tourists here every year, and I love this island deeply,” the source explained. “But I have grown more and more disturbed by the open animal exploitation that visitors see everywhere now. The most shocking example is this listing for a baby monkey only a few weeks old, being sold for $500. An infant that young should still be with its mother. The only way this seller got this baby is by killing or forcibly separating the mother to take her child for profit. This is not conservation—it’s blatant exploitation, and it’s becoming far too common.”
The source added that while some casual tourists may not recognize the violence behind the photo opportunities, many returning visitors and industry professionals are well aware of the abuse, and the practice is starting to change how people view the island as a travel destination.

These concerns are echoed by Lalu Hanuman, a Barbadian attorney and prominent animal rights activist, who called the ongoing primate exploitation “horrendous and totally unacceptable.” Hanuman echoed the anonymous source’s assessment of the capture process, noting that obtaining an infant primate that young almost always requires killing or permanently displacing the mother. “I see these baby monkeys on the beaches all the time, leashed and forced to sit for photos with tourists all day in the hot sun, with no water, stolen from their families,” he told local outlet Barbados TODAY. “This is abuse, plain and simple, and it has to stop.”

Hanuman emphasized that while existing legislation has gaps, law enforcement already has the legal authority to crack down on this practice—if policymakers and enforcement agencies demonstrate the political will to act. “The online ad had contact information, so police can easily track down the person who posted it and bring charges,” he said.
Hanuman explained that Barbados’ animal welfare legal framework has evolved in recent years, but key flaws remain that have allowed exploitation to continue. The century-old Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, passed under the Owen Arthur administration, only extends legal protection to “tame animals or animals that exist for human benefit,” which explicitly excludes wild primates like green monkeys. Instead, authorities should use the 2023 Animal Health and Veterinary Public Health Act, which uses a far broader definition of protected animals that includes all terrestrial wildlife.

Even the new law has a notable drafting error that creates confusion: the legislation lists two different fine amounts for the same offense, $50,000 and $100,000, both paired with a maximum two-year prison sentence. Despite this ambiguity, Hanuman noted that even the lower penalty carries enough weight to serve as a deterrent and prosecute offenders aggressively.
When asked whether the open practice of primate exploitation on beaches and public transport means the activity has become normalized in Barbados, Hanuman pushed back on the idea that it is accepted by local communities, drawing a parallel to similar abusive tourist practices in other global destinations. “This is not normal here in Barbados, but it is a problem we see in many tourist spots around the world,” he explained. “I saw the exact same thing in Marrakesh, Morocco, where they dress baby monkeys up in clothes and charge tourists for photos. It’s abuse everywhere, and it’s illegal here under the 2023 law, so there’s no excuse for failing to prosecute.”
Hanuman added that recent setbacks for the animal rights movement have compounded the problem of institutional inaction. Leading local animal advocacy group Be Their Voice was forced to withdraw a High Court appeal over the drowning of a dog at Pebbles Beach after the state threatened the group with crippling legal costs. “It’s a real shame that Be Their Voice had to pull out of that appeal, because it was a critical opportunity to push for stronger enforcement of our animal welfare laws,” Hanuman said. “That setback makes it even more important that authorities act now on this primate exploitation case to send a clear message that animal cruelty will not be tolerated in Barbados.”