Police, Carnival brass get ready for Mas

On Wednesday, carnival band leaders signed on to a peace declaration following a violent incident involving supporters at the conclusion of the King and Queen Competition. Greg Vernon of the National Institute of Culture and History says that the association, carnival bands and its partners will move forward with safety and sportsmanship in mind, specifically as it relates to regulations. According to the declaration, any band that breaks the rule will be disqualified forthwith from the competition. But even so, the police have confirmed that additional manpower will be brought in to ensure safety for revelers and onlookers. 

Greg Vernon, National Celebrations Committee

Greg Vernon

“We should be able to cope with competition as well as coping with individuals who are ticking us off. It is very easy for us to get ruffled, but we are saying at forty-two years old and with being in carnival, we have some old veterans and some new people who are with us who are just coming into the carnival association that we would like to say welcome and keep up the good work.”

ACP Dezerie Phillips-Magdaleno

ACP Dezerie Phillips-Magdaleno, Regional Commander, Eastern Division

“As law enforcement officers, promoting and advocating peace is of great interest to us. And I am extremely happy to be here as a part of this panel to realize such initiative of promoting peace among the different carnival groups. As was said rightly earlier, carnival is one of the highlights of the September celebrations that everyone looks forward to. And I want to offer assurance this morning that the Belize Police Department will be out there in full force to ensure that the participating groups the spectators and the community at large remain safe, particularly on carnival day and throughout the September celebration. We will be putting in additional manpower and additional efforts will be made to ensure that this day goes an incident free one.”