A Record Low for Homicides in the Jewel in 2023

As it stands, the number of homicides accounted for so far in 2023, is eighty.  It’s a figure that is well below the murder count in previous years and will go down as a record achievement for the Belize Police Department.  Nonetheless, the men and women in uniform aren’t taking a victory lap just yet.  There are still two more weeks to go before we ring in a new year and the department is busy trying to keep that number at a minimum.  It’s something that the Commissioner of Police monitors closely.

Chester Williams

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“I do take a serious look at the murder count and I always try my best to preserve life.  Whenever we have any murders or shootings in the city, I always find myself in Belize City on the ground, trying to see what I can do along with my team to mitigate any possible retaliation and I think that we have been doing well, along with LIU and the program that LIU is pushing.  It is something that we take very seriously, including our minister, he likewise has a hands-on approach when it comes to the murder count.  We strive to see what we can do to reduce these numbers and yes, this year is a record-breaking one for us so far and we are making great strides, but we certainly aren’t yet where we want to be.  Like you rightly said, every murder is a bad one because you have people who are left orphaned children, we have wives who are left widowed, people are grieving.  So, saving lives for us is the number one priority and we are going to do our best for the rest of the year to make sure that we keep the numbers well below the figures we have seen over the past thirteen years.  I think we can achieve it. Even when you look at the per capita, I think for the first time in more than fifteen years, we can have a per capita of less than twenty per year.  So I think that it is going to be historic.  But we’re not going to celebrate yet, there’s still a lot that we need to do before we close this year and even when the year is closed, we still won’t celebrate because we have another year we have to look forward to.”