D.Y.S. and U.B. Responds to Leroy Cus Murder in Belmopan

The Department of Youth Services is also demanding justice of Leroy Cus. A release from the Ministry of Youth, through the Department of Youth Services, condemns the brutal murder. In light of this recent murder, the Department of Youth Service says it is prepared to work with all stakeholders involved, including the Belmopan City Council, the Belize Police Department, and the University of Belize, to be proactive in ensuring a safer environment for young people. U.B. has also responded to the teenager’s murder, referring to the act as heinous and revolting. The institution has confirmed that Cus was not a student at its Belmopan campus at the time of his death. However, the crime was committed in a public space that is supposed to be a safe area, even for students of the university. This afternoon we spoke with Martin Cuellar, the Dean of Student Affairs at the University of Belize, about some of the security measures in place for students and how the university intends to contribute towards a safer community.

Martin Cuellar

Martin Cuellar, Dean of Students Affairs, University of Belize

“Our students I think like all members of the community are worried about what they hear on the news, what is happening around them, and the general concern or feeling is that the country is becoming a little less safe in many ways. When it comes to our Belmopan campus, that plays out in one ways in particular which is one way is our students gets mostly from campus to home safely. For student who lives in Belmopan, that is a concern, and when you hear a story like what happened last night, that kind drives it home for you. The university, this is our first week of class, only the third day. So, we are still putting into effect some of the services we have always has for years that were cut out for a few years during the pandemic. That includes a busito services to get around Belmopan from campus. We also have a black jaguar taxi team that is parked in front our campus. So, students can take a taxi home as well. Both those services are coming back up. The busito tonight and the taxi on Monday the latest. We have twenty four hour security service on the university campus with constant monitoring, shift supervisors on motorcycles running around the campus. Students are encouraged to stop them at anytime to speak, make concerns, and ask questions. We also have a security hot line that students can use. They dial one cell number and that goes to the security on duty and they can get quick response. Our president himself is preparing for communication with the relevant authorities in the Belmopan area to not only look at the police, because we are doing that through our security forces, but in that instance, looking at the establishment of more lighting in some of the darker pathways in the Belmopan pathway, again to reduce the area of risks and to create these larger safe zones that sends the message that this is an area where petty crimes, or even violent crime like what happened last night will not be entertained, will not be allowed.”