Eastern Division South Hosts Basketball Tournament

Chester Williams

Over the weekend, Eastern Division South hosted a basketball tournament on the court at the Yarborough Green on south side Belize City. The community policing initiative is aimed at bringing together youths caught up in crime in an effort to mitigate criminal activities in the city. ACP Chester Williams explains.

ACP Chester Williams, Regional Commander, Eastern Division South

“Well the objective is always to be able to show these young men that despite having personal differences that they can coexist and they can have fun together and life is more than just picking up a gun and running out or lurking, looking for someone to kill.”

Reporter

“Okay now people might say but while you di do this, the violence continues to multiply because the real trouble man, dehn noh deh out yah.”

ACP Chester Williams

“I wouldn’t really agree with that because some of the people who we had been dealing with before who had been involved in the crimes on the street are in the game.”

Reporter

“Now you think it having a meaningful de-escalation of violence in the street, is there any measurable, verifiable outcome that you could say…okay before we start this tournament, XYZ mi di happen and now only XY di happen.

ACP Chester Williams

“Well there is nothing to show that we have actually measures the effect of it. But I can tell you that some of the people who are involved in these games have been out there before getting involved in criminal activities and since the tournament, no one who has been involved in the tournament has ever been accused or have been caught in the violence in the city.”

The winners are as follows: In game one south side defeated Lake I thirty-five to thirty. Game two saw Lakeland beat Jump Street thirty-four to twenty-six points. ABS defeated Park Ballers in game three with thirty-three points while Jane usher pummeled Complex in game four thirty-four to twenty-four points.