The Reformation of the Belize Police Training Academy
The Belize Police Department was the recipient of equipment to enhance the training of officers which was handed over by U.S. Chargé d’affaires, Keith Gilges. The U.S. Government is also providing a curriculum advisor who will work closely with the police academy to develop curriculum. This initiative is part of a CARSI-supported in-service training project, in which the U.S. Embassy agreed to provide a Curriculum Development Advisor for three years and to procure and install two stationary podiums and one portable system. News Five’s Duane Moody reports.
Duane Moody, Reporting
The Belize Police Training Academy got a boost today in the form of equipment and a curriculum advisor courtesy of the U.S. Government. An inaugural ceremony for the handing over of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative Connect training equipment marks the beginning of a new and improved Belize Police Department.
Keith Gilges
Keith Gilges, Chargé d’Affaires, U.S. Embassy of Belize
“This was one of those great opportunities where we said well Belize is also part of the Caribbean so let’s make sure that we are tapping into the resources of C.B.S.I. and Belize really gets to be the bridge there. And because it is English language all the training that could be happening in other countries in the Caribbean could also then benefit Belize and vice versa. It is also a programme that helps within Belize and so the ability to have training here in Belmopan, in Belize City and other locations with the portable equipment means that the capacity to get that training out to as many officers as possible is increased.”
Minister of Home Affairs Kareem Musa is determined to grow the Belize Police Department – not only in size, but also in capacity. Musa says this is just a first step in the right direction.
Kareem Musa
Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs
“It is our intention to in very short order have another intake of police officers as you know we are severely understaffed in our force due to attrition, in some instances due to COVID-19—a lot of our officers are suffering with COVID at this time so there is need for an intake. And so we have to be very careful how it is that we go about executing such a training. And so today was just sort of the first step in that direction. And there is a general theme that I want to at all time carry through in terms of what I believe the people of Belize feel about police officers. We need to restore confidence in our Belize Police Department; we need to use of technology, of innovation and more importantly of reform.”
The reformation of the law enforcement agency will begin from the recruitment stage. Doctor Priscilla Brown, the new curriculum advisor and the Dean of Academics at the Belize Police Training Academy plans to do just that. She says that the international and regional standards will be employed to those who want to join the department, but also continuous skills training will occur around the clock for police officers across the length and breadth of the country.
Priscilla Brown
Dr. Priscilla Brown, Dean of Academics, Belize Police Training Academy
“We are looking at all forms of training and how we can ensure that it has the standards, the benchmark, it is aligned with regional and international standards and we’ve started some work already by looking at the tips training and that is already aligned to the CARICOM qualifications framework. So every training done in this institution will not be just a training that somebody does, but it is going to be well structured, it’s gonna be meeting all international protocols. And the long term goal is that we accredit this institution. It’s both skills and academics because we cannot simply be teaching academics and skills because policing, you must have certain competencies and certain skills. And so we are cognizant of that and we have the support of the U.S. Embassy to ensure that if we do not have the personnel here to provide the training in Belize that we will source those persons to ensure that the officers do have the skills, the competency and certainly we want to look t all those challenges we’ve had and how do we ensure that we train the officers to be the best that they possibly can.”
Commissioner of Police Chester Williams says the hope is that the academy could then become a college to develop police officers professionally.
Chester Williams
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
“In Jamaica, they have a police college and when officers go to the police college in Jamaica, whatever course they take, they get accredited if they want to go to university. And the Belize Police Department once used to send officers to train in Jamaica at very senior level to take the junior and senior command course, but we have not been able to do those training for the past few years due to financial constraints. So if we now have our own police college, we will now be able to host those trainings in Belize and invite other countries to partake in the training with us.”
Duane Moody for News Five.
