Police keep city quiet, nab burglars in the act
This afternoon the Belize Police Department held a press briefing to give an account of their performance during Hurricane Dean. According to Acting O.C. of the Eastern Division, Senior Superintendent Chester Williams, the eight p.m. to nine a.m. curfew, along with vigorous patrols kept crime to a minimum in the old capital, with only three burglaries being reported.
Sr. Supt. Chester Williams, Acting O.C., Eastern Division
“This morning sometime around four-thirty p.m. we got a call from a person who told us of a burglary at Dr. Usher Dental Clinic on Magazine Road and again with the prompt response of the police officers to that location, we were able to apprehend inside Dr. Usher’s Clinic, one of Belize’s most notorious criminals, Kenrick Reneau and one of his accomplices, Julian Ebanks. Both of them have been taken into police custody and they will be charged for burglary and I must also say that on them other things were found which do not belong to Mr. Usher’s Dental Clinic, so we are looking at another burglary that they may have possibly commit.”
Supt. Aaron Guzman, Head of C.I.B.
“There have been two other reports of burglaries. In one of them, one culprit was caught, also on the premises. That happened about an hour and a half ago, so the owners of the property are presently giving their statement and we have one person in custody. That occurred on Euphrates Avenue. There was one other burglary reported where we have made no arrests for that and that happened in the Martin’s area.”
Sr. Supt. Chester Williams
“The curfew, I must say, was a very wise decision on the part of Cabinet and it aids us significantly to our accomplishment today because that allowed us to control the amount of persons who are allowed on the streets after nine p.m. last night. The officer’s effort was aimed at conducting stop and search, checking of buildings, manning the gas stations, the financial institutions, major stores and at the same time to patrol the main areas of the city where we know crime usually occur.”
Police also said that they have several items in their custody that were left behind by accused criminals. They would not elaborate on what those objects are, but are asking persons whose homes have been burglarised to check with police. According to Williams, officers will continue to patrol the streets in force until things return to normal.
