Police: neighbourhood watch conf. a success

The Belize Police Department is claiming success from its first national neighbourhood watch conference held over the weekend in Belize City with its first tangible outcome being the formation of national task force. According to organizers, the mission of the task force will be to enlist more community involvement in the fight against crime. Over four hundred persons from across the country attended the summit to participate in discussions focused on improving the awareness, importance, effectiveness and efficiency of the neighbourhood watch and other community programs. Guest speaker at the opening of the event, Minister of State in the Ministry Home Affairs Rodwell Ferguson maintained that while such initiatives are already functioning in various urban communities, Belize City is still grappling with a serious crime situation. His suggestion to city residents is to see this method of crime prevention as one tool that just might break the vicious cycle. The national neighbourhood task force is made up of sixteen members, one representative from each of the districts, in addition to one each from the cities and towns.