Police Agree to More Frequent Briefings, Ending Media Boycott

For the past thirteen days, the media implemented a boycott of the activities of the Belize Police Department, following a breakdown in the mutual relationship shared between both parties.  The abrupt departure from what was an agreed mode of operation took place in mid-September when the police department began refusing interview requests from the media, even as the number of murders increased.  Similarly, the free flow of information was promptly cut off by the police. This morning, a meeting was held with Commissioner of Police Allen Whylie, as well as Home Affairs C.E.O. George Lovell, among other ranking officers.  Following a lengthy discussion and the hammering out of a new agreement, the police department has agreed to compromise.  ComPol Whylie explains the new arrangement to normalize relations.

Allen Whylie

Allen Whylie, Commissioner of Police

“We had frank discussions from the police side, as well as the media representatives side and I’m glad to say that the boycott from the media is over.  We’ve agreed that the police and the media do need to be working together in a more cooperative and collaborative fashion and so we have agreed that twice per week, senior officers will be made available that will be doing press briefings to the media here at the Raccoon Street conference room.  We’ve also agreed that in respect to the out-districts, the Head National Crimes Investigation Branch would be responsible to do those briefings.  We’ve kept intact the fact that requests will be made through the Belize press office, the Belize Police Department’s press office up to the commissioner, who would review those matters on a case by case basis.  But the primary agreement is that we will be doing press briefing twice per week here in Belize City.”

George Lovell

Ret. Col. George Lovell, C.E.O., Ministry of Home Affairs

“We have agreed that we will put in place a mechanism which would be like a safety valve where the trigger for that particular safety valve would be from all the media houses getting together and there will be one point of contact where they would communicate back with the police and that point of contact would be Isani.  The trigger would be where you all agree amongst yourselves that we are at a point where we need to put in place or activate this safety valve and you all as a group will agree on that and Isani will be used as the point of contact to get to the police, so that there is no confusion, no misunderstanding as to how you go forward in order to ensure that we do not go back down this path again.”