Asst. Commissioner dialogues w/Mile 8 residents
With the public perception that Belize City is overrun by crime, many urban residents have taken the opportunity to relocate to the countryside. But as News 5’s Patrick Jones discovered, you can run but you can’t necessarily hide.
Maureen Leslie, Asst. Police Commissioner
“We are trying to show that safety and security is everybody’s business. Crime is everybody’s business.”
Patrick Jones, Reporting
Over fifty of the over three hundred people living along the Western Highway at mile eight came together to try and figure out how to solve some of the problems affecting the growing community.
Resident #1
“And I have students who go to Edward P. York school consuming alcohol. Now one of the things I do is that I talk to these youths, if I go to the principal and I say to the principal this youth was consuming alcohol, he gets kicked out of school. And then I will become a victim. I become a victim because they will start to harass me and then I might just do something.”
Resident 2
“Last week my neighbour’s two tires were slashed. Within this week two bikes have been stolen not far form me, not far from where Mr. Henderson lives. That can show the level of respect that they have for the police.”
Patrick Jones
“The Sunday afternoon public discourse gave residents of this community the opportunity to talk one on one with the police high command. While the subjects raised ranged from theft to burglaries to vandalism, Assistant Commissioner of Police Maureen Leslie says help will only come with community participation.”
Maureen Leslie, Asst. Police Commissioner
“This mile eight area could be crime free because everybody should know everybody. And the minute a stranger comes into your area, you watch him from house to house to house and get him out. Because if you don’t live here, what are you doing here. And if he is still around with nowhere to go, call the police and we’ll get him out.”
But while that would be the ideal situation, head of the Patrol Branch Superintendent David Henderson, himself a resident of the area, says it is not happening.
Supt. Henderson, O.I.C., Patrol Branch
“People know who the commit them things because yes we solve the crimes them out here, but how much people prepared to say anything. Again, things go missing; nobody makes report because I remember I recover a door. I know that the door was taken off somebody’s house because even the pieces of board deh pan the screws off of the door. But again who report it? Nobody.”
Community activist, Cheryl Gabourel, says residents would prefer to wish it away, but crime has now become a part of their everyday lives.
Cheryl Gabourel
“I really don’t want to put crime to mile eight to be honest, but it is happening. Because like the police has said we come home and we get so locked up in our own little world and our own little home that we fail to realize exactly what’s happening out here. We are scared. We are sacred of the fact that a small community like this exists and it is already existing with so many problems.”
Asst. Justo Augustine
“What we are saying is that if there are no buyers then the guys won’t go and thief because they will not have market.”
Chief of Detectives, Assistant Superintendent Justo Augustine, gave residents tips on how to safeguard themselves and their properties, such as avoiding dimly lit areas, carrying valuables in a less conspicuous manner and just plain looking out for one another.
Ruperto Vicente
“Another problem I am very much concerned about is our protection in the area on when we report a crime. If we report a crime, or if I report a crime, how much protection do I get from the police, because I could become a victim simply by reporting a crime.”
Leslie told the resident that while no guarantees for personal protection in such a case can be given, residents should still perform their civic duty and report crimes utilizing either the 911 or 922 call-in programmes.
Maureen Leslie
“We have a case just recently where there was a breakage, a number of items were stolen only to find out that that it was the owner’s relative. Now she is requesting no court action. And that is not helping us because then he won’t go to jail and he will be out here again ready to commit the same crime.”
Patrick Jones
“So then that’s like a catch 22, they are asking you for help and then they are not willing to help you.”
Maureen Leslie
“Exactly. And they want us to do everything and we can’t. So we get the people to organise themselves hopefully. And we are prepared to assist them, but they must want to. I have to get that feeling that they want our assistance and we will provide it. But we can’t do everything for them so the committee must get organised.”
That organization will take more than a little effort. Gabourel says attempts to organise have been made in the past, but so far they just can’t see the light at the end of this dark period in the community’s short life.
Cheryl Gabourel
“I think that the issues that have to deal with the mile eight community is far more than just policing. It has to do a lot with the whole area being developed and the people coming together to make a difference. In regards to the policing, we would want to see that yes the booth put in place, and yes the issues because mile eight has been a part of what we consider news attraction lately. And we want to see that the police they would come in and they would be able to help us to organise ourselves and to get us together, especially where crime is concerned.”
Patrick Jones, for News 5.
Sunday’s meeting, which was held at the Sand Pit Restaurant and Bar, was the fifth in a series that Assistant Commissioner Leslie has undertaken since taking up command of Eastern Division. On Tuesday night she will be in Hattieville and the following night at the Holy Redeemer Parish Hall to dialogue with residents of the Fort George Division.
