Meet Sadio: Statistician Superhero
How data collection is helping fight crime in the Eastern Caribbean
What does a statistician have to do with citizen security? A whole lot if you ask Sadio Harris, operations manager of the Sub-Regional Crime Observatory (SRCO) in Barbados.
“Statistics and data are pieces of a puzzle. When you put this information together, it can help reveal a larger picture.” — Sadio Harris
Sadio currently works at the SCRO, which was founded in 2019 with support from USAID’s CariSECURE project. It is the region’s leading data collection unit for crime and violence statistics. The observatory was created after USAID conducted an assessment of data related to youth crime and violence, which found that there was a lack of evidenced-based policies to help inform host-country government’s decisions on key issues.
In the past, many Caribbean countries would collect and analyze data at the national level; however, USAID’s assessment showed that this information did not adequately allow analysis of the crime across the region as a whole. USAID helped establish the SRCO within the Regional Security System (RSS), an organization of seven Caribbean countries focused on strengthening regional security, to address the deficiencies.
That way statisticians like Sadio could collect standardized data that could be analyzed at both the country and regional levels to support better policy making to reduce national and regional crime levels.
Now in its final year, CariSECURE has helped Eastern Caribbean governments improve their policymaking on youth crime and violence through the use of quality, comparable, and reliable national citizen security info collected by the SRCO.
With youth unemployment in the Eastern and Southern Caribbean at acute levels, ranging from 20 to 40 percent, youth are at a higher risk for involvement in crime and violence. Therefore, the SRCO and the work of the CariSECURE project are critical to reducing crime and violence in the region.
How does Sadio fit into this? Before his current role as SRCO Operations Manager, he served as the CariSECURE Data Management, Analysis, and Reporting Specialist. Part of his role was to help figure out how to address the gaps USAID found in its assessment of regional data collection.
With years of experience working within National Statistical Offices, the United Nations and the RSS, Sadio is a bit of a statistics superhero.
Using his knowledge and experience, Sadio has played a critical role in helping to reduce crime in the region by working on the Caribbean Citizens Security Indicator Framework. This framework is the first of its kind for the region, containing more than 100 crime and violence indicators. These indicators provide a cohesive way for each of the RSS Member States to record crime and statistics in a regionally consistent way.
“The Caribbean Citizen Security Indicator Framework, which uses the International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes (ICCS), standardizes the crime statistics collected in the region,” Sadio explains. “This is very important for the region as it is one of the means by which we can measure the magnitude of crime in the region. In addition, it also allows us to compare data inside and outside of the Caribbean.”
“Once we have the information standardized, for example, how murders are affecting the region, it helps us tackle crime and trans-border crime,” he added.
To improve data collection, the CariSECURE project supported digitization of information in the law enforcement sector, moving away from paper-based records. This is a key factor to having data readily available, which is especially useful to the police.
“Gone are the days of log books — we are now transitioning to an electronic system. With this system, police at national levels can see the geographic locations of hotspots, the characteristics of victims and perpetrators, and time stamps for any particular crime,” said Sadio, who describes this project as the pinnacle of his career thus far.
This way, he says, police can use the real-time information to make tactical and strategic decisions, improve community relations, and log incidents all from a web-based portal.
All of these efforts have paid off. In 2020, the SCRO created its first, region-wide report that compares crime statistics in each country — a huge milestone. With this information, countries now have information to help inform root causes of youth violence and crime, perform crime forecasting, and develop regional and country-specific policies and programs to decrease crime and violence.
According to USAID Eastern and Southern Caribbean Regional Representative Clinton White, these efforts are key to advancing larger goals:
“In the last five years, USAID has provided almost $241 million to support strong and vibrant societies across the Caribbean. Strengthening democratic governance and investing in democracy, human rights, and civil society advances a free, vibrant, and strong Caribbean. The CariSECURE project alone helps strengthen civil society organizations’ ability to prevent violence, and promote safety and security for all.”
As the CariSECURE project wraps up later this year, it does not mean that these efforts will stop. The RSS will oversee its continuation, including additional training for police officers and integrating the platform throughout the region.
“People like Sadio are playing an integral part of creating a stronger, more vibrant Caribbean,” said White. “While researchers, statisticians, and data analysts often play a ‘behind the scenes’ role, their work has been critical to creating the framework and helping strengthen citizen safety in the Caribbean.”
About the Author
Ayesha Lett is the Development Outreach and Communications Specialist at USAID Eastern and Southern Caribbean located in Barbados.
