Police Announce Plans for Continued Patrols During Weekly Community Meeting

Eastern Division police were back on the streets of south side Belize City this afternoon where they conducted their weekly Meet and Greet initiative.  North Creek is of particular interest this time around because not only does the neighborhood fall within the Eastern Division South jurisdiction; it has also seen a spike in gun violence recently.  As we said, over the weekend, thirteen-year-old Shanaya Whylie was shot to the left side of the face while at her neighbor’s home on Raccoon Street.  In a second shooting incident over the weekend, another female minor was injured when she came under fire from a known gunman.  ACP Chester Williams provides an update into those cases, as well as an effort by officers to increase their presence in that area.

Chester Williams

ACP Chester Williams, Eastern Division South

“In respect to the shooting that took place on Raccoon Street where the minor Shanaya Whylie was shot, we have since arrested and charged Anthony Crawford for the crime of wounding, attempted murder and use of deadly means of harm.  In respect to the other shooting incident where the fourteen-year-old female student Flowers was shot right, not too far from here, we are currently looking for a suspect.  We know who he is, we have the name and everything.  We have not been able to locate him and as soon as he is located then he will be arrested and charged for a second shooting incident which took place here Curassow Street. As you would know, this area has been one of the areas on south side where we have seen an increase in gun violence and so we are in the area to see what we can do.  What input the community [members] from the area can give us that could enhance our policing strategy for this area, as well as to reassure the residence of this area that the police are in the area and that we will continue to do whatever we can do to make sure that some degree of safety is maintained within the respective communities.  So yes, we are here, we are speaking to the people and despite the fact that we have the increase in shooting incidents, the residents are still confident in the work of the police.  They are happy with what we have been doing and they are just simply asking if we can increase the police presence and I will say that since we have the flare up we have put the motorcycle patrol from the strike team in this area, so the presence of the police is on a twenty-four hour basis and we try to ensure that the patrol is done in a manner that they are visible throughout the twenty-four hour period.”