Eighty-five Murders in 2023, Record Low for Police Department

The aggregate number of homicides recorded in 2023 stood at eighty-five at the end of the year.  It’s a figure that the Belize Police Department and the Ministry of Home Affairs are equally proud of, the least murders on record since 2006.  According to Commissioner of Police Chester Williams, it has been his objective since assuming command of the department several years ago. 

Chester Williams

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“Since I became commissioner, that has always been my goal, to see the murder count dip below a hundred.  And it had cost me many sleepless nights trying to figure out what next can I do, how best can I do this or whatever… what strategy can I employ to try and positively impact the murder rate and for the first time it happened.  We came close in 2020 when we had one hundred and three.  That year, I actually believed that we were going to achieve it, but just like this year at the end we had a spike and that took us over the hundred digit.  And then in last year, we had a hundred and thirteen which again was still reasonably close compared to previous years where we were in the one hundred and thirties, one hundred and forties.  So we have seen a tremendous dip.  But again, policing is very complex, especially in the era we are living in because criminals have become more sophisticated in how they do their business.”