A Meeting is Called to Discuss Newly Implemented Citywide Curfew

Two fourteen-year-olds and a fifteen-year-old have been charged within the last twenty-four hours for a most serious crime, murder. It is a damning reality because it highlights the lack of proper parenting and a breakdown in the social fabric of the Old Capital. A meeting was held today at the Raccoon Street Police Station with representatives from different youth service agencies, including Human Development, the Truancy Unit of the Ministry of Education and RESTORE Belize. The conference was called by Eastern Division South Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police Chester Williams who wants to detain minors found on the streets after nine o’clock at night. While the agencies are in support of the program, ACP Williams says that he is trying to ensure that it is in compliance with the requirements of the Families and Children Act.

ACP Chester Williams, Regional Commander, Eastern Division South

“What we are doing is to approach this situation from a multiagency standpoint so as to not to make it seem as if it is something that the police is pushing alone. And I think that once we pool together our resources that we’ll be able to achieve much more. And I must say that all the agencies represented at the meeting today, we are fully onboard. And what we’ll be doing after this is devising a policy as to how we will be dealing with the children on our streets. I must make it clear that whatever it is that we are doing, the children are not the ones being targeted; who are being targeted are the parents. Yes if the child is met on the street, they will be brought to the police station, but they will not be detained per say placed in a detention cell. We will fix up a room on the second floor where these children will be placed when they are brought to the police station to keep them away from the detained population. They came at first request by us; they welcomed the initiative as well. Many of them said that they believe that it is something that we could have done long time ago. But at the end of the day there are several things that need to be done that needs to be put in place that we need to look at so that we can ensure that we perfect what we intend to do. I maintain my point Duane, to have a child on the street at night is surely not in the best interest of a child. And when we see that happening, we will be removing those child from out of those dangerous situation.”

Chester Williams

Duane Moody

“I know you said that it was going to come into effect last night. Did that actually happen or are we going to wait until those meetings are concluded to have this put into effect?”

ACP Chester Williams

“We have started from last night and I will say and I must thank the parents, last night the streets were clean. There were no children seen on the street after nine last night.”