Depiction of a street robbery (Photo credit: Jaleel James)

|O’Jay Cole

Every year as it approaches the Christmas season Northern Caribbean University’s (NCU)
students are in high alert as “tis the season of robberies” and students predominantly those
who live in the surrounding communities are at risk of being robbed.

Kibbieshe Kenedy and four other NCU students found themselves in this unfortunate
predicament on Monday, November 4, 2019, while walking through the Cedar Grove Housing
Scheme. It was around 10:45 pm upon arriving at the top of a hill they saw two men walking towards them in an unsuspected manner. It wasn’t until Kibbieshe saw one of the two with a
gun and heard him say “gimme everything unu have” that she realized these men weren’t out
for a night’s stroll.

Kibbieshe recounted: “one was the intimidator and the other the collector, the one with the
gun asked for my phone and I told him I don’t have it and he grabbed my keys from my hand
and the other person’s stuff, after they took everything they both ran down the hill towards
the entrance of the scheme”.

Kibbieshe and her schoolmates ran home and called the police “as per usual the police system
is slack; they came minutes after 11 pm” she said. With the frequent robberies that persists
nearing the Christmas season Kibbieshe thinks the Mandeville Police aren’t doing enough to
protect the university’s students, she suggests that police patrol the area and walk-in
unassuming clothing posing as students since students are targets.

Being the victim of a robbery may have unforeseen psychological effects. Currently
Kebbieshe is unable to sleep alone and experiences anxiety when she hears a noise as she fears she’s going to be attacked. “I am even scared to walk to school in broad daylight, the spot we got robbed I can’t even walk there”.

According to the Journal International Review of Victimology Volume 12, a paper written by
Julie-Anne Gale; Timothy Coupe examined the emotional and psychological effects of street robbery on victims. The findings showed that “most victims found it to be a traumatic and terrifying event, and subsequently suffered substantial distress with half the victims classifiable as psychiatric cases in weeks following the incident”.

Victims of robberies are encouraged to seek professional psychiatric help to address psychological issues that may develop. Northern Caribbean University students who have been victims of robberies are free to contact the counselling services on campus to tackle and remedy any emotional distress and challenges following an incident.

Tis the season to be jolly, take the necessary precautions to be safe and be aware of your surroundings.