Caribbean youth identified as primary perpetrators of crime in the region

A study on the situation of Caribbean youth has revealed that youth’s risky behaviors are wreaking serious havoc on the economies of the Caribbean.

This is according to a study conducted by the CARICOM Commission on Youth Development (CCYD) in keeping with its mandate from Caricom heads of government to analyze the situation of Caribbean youth and recommend policy intervention to improve their well being.

The study conducted by former World Bank Economist, Jad Channban, found that murder rates in the Caribbean - at 30 per 100,000 annually - were higher than any other region in the world and that youth were the primary perpetrators, as well as the victims, of crime and violence.

The report revealed that the economic costs of youth crime had two components: the first being direct financial costs related to public expenditure on security, policing, arrest, judicial processing, and incarceration.