Gangs the Main Cause; City Rules the Roost Again

The introduction of Operation ACT, a direct law enforcement response to the spike in violent crimes during the months of September and October, has, to a certain extent, stemmed the flow of blood in the streets of Belize City.  One can’t help but wonder, however, that had these measures been put in place much earlier the murder rate for 2017 would not be mirroring that of the previous year.  Nonetheless, ComPol Whylie remains optimistic that come 2018, there should be a downturn in the number of homicides being recorded.

Allen Whylie

Allen Whylie, Commissioner of Police

“Any murder is a murder too much.  Of course we are not happy in terms of the level of murders we’ve had.  You also have to understand that the police department doesn’t have any control in terms of murders, because murders are committed by individuals or groups and many times it’s crimes of opportunity.  But as I always say, we need to step up in terms of the capacity to investigate and interdict these persons because once we’re able to interdict the perpetrators then that will act as a deterrent against other persons who may want to commit those crimes.  I am cognizant that we’re not at the end of 2017 indeed, that’s why I indicated that those statistics, all categories of those statistics can indeed change.  But we are confident, as I’ve said, that the foundation that we have been laying, especially this year, will reap dividends in next year and we should see a downward trend instead.”

Reporter

“Is there any indication so far of what is driving this high number of murders this year, what’s the main driver?”

Allen Whylie

“Well, we had an upsurge in terms of gang rivalry, as well as inter-gang rivalry fueled by the fight over turf for the sale of drugs.  And I think that contributed significantly in terms of the Belize District.  We’ve also seen where a few incidents occurred during robberies and there were a few indeed from domestic violence.  But I think that a majority of the incidents were gang-related, so to speak.”