Eastern Division Holds Back to School Drive

The Eastern Division South today held a second back to school drive; this time in the Mayflower Street area of the city as part of their strategy to build relations with the community. Primary school children and their parents gathered at the Berger Field on Vernon Street to receive much needed school bags and supplies, just in time for the start of the new school year on Monday. The lucky recipients were chosen by a newly formed neighborhood watch committee in the area and today at least one or two children from various households in the community received their bags. Senior Superintendent Chester Williams, who is the regional commander for Eastern Division South, spoke about the drive and how it helps cease urban crime.

Chester Williams

Sr. Supt. Chester Williams, Regional Commander, Eastern Division South

“It’s a continuation of our Back to School Drive. We had the one last week in the Jane Usher Boulevard area and now we are doing one for the Mayflower area. Today, we will be giving out a total of a hundred bags to the children of the area and again, like I’ve said before, we try to reach out to the younger generation as well and not only to those who are caught up in the criminal justice system. So it is just a good gesture from the police to give back to the community and show the community that we are serious about working along with you. What we did, we saw the need to assist these people in this area and the police officers from the south side Belize City each contributed one exercise book—some give two, some give three—then pencils, pens, rulers. So the police officers donated the books, pencils and pens. We sought assistance from corporate citizens and we got some bags from Mister Dion Leslie who assisted us with some. The Minister of Education, Mister Patrick Faber, gave us twenty-five bags—again Mister Faber is the area rep from the Mayflower area that falls in the Collet division. So he also contributed to this endeavor. We have Lamb’s Funeral Parlor, who also chipped in and gave us something and then we have Mendoza. So there are a lot of people who were willing to assist us in fulfilling this obligation to give back to the community. I would want to think that the efforts that we are doing community policing wise is contributing significantly to the reduction in crime on south side Belize City. We do not expect that our efforts will deter all crimes from occurring, but if we can stop one or two or three or four crimes from occurring, then it is a plus.”