Operation ACT records successes; continues into 2018
Operation ACT, acronym for Addressing Crime Together, was launched on October twenty-seventh as a direct law enforcement response to the escalation of violent crimes in Belize City. With the establishment of twenty-four hour police presence in three hotspots on the south side, the frequency of gang-related incidents, including murder, has been curbed noticeably. Police have also been able to get a handle on the illicit sale of marijuana by making large seizures of the drug on a constant basis. While there is more work to be done, the intelligence-driven offensive will not last forever. Assistant Commissioner of Police Edward Broaster shared the successes of the initiative to date.
ACP Edward Broaster, Operations Commander
ACP Edward Broaster
“The update for Operation ACT, since its inception we’d like to report that during Operation ACT we confiscated some forty-four thousand, four hundred and sixty-six point five grams of cannabis, along with some five thousand, seventy-three point five grams of cocaine, sixteen firearms and we had three arrests for firearms. And for each firearm we confiscated off the streets, we would presume that we saved a life minimum, as well as conducting over twenty thousand citizen security checks throughout the Belize District. We also confiscated some two hundred and twenty-six various rounds of ammunition within the city, and those are the statistics that we have at this time.”
Isani Cayetano
“Where do we stand in respect of this particular operation remaining in effect? Does it have a deadline or does it continue on indefinitely?”
Allen Whylie
Allen Whylie, Commissioner of Police
“I’ve already indicated that ACT will continue into the new year. It won’t be indefinite because it’s a high intensive in terms of human resources, as well as the financial cost. I won’t say when it will [end] because I don’t want to tip off the criminals to say well, we will just wait out the police. But I can assure you that it will continue into 2018 and we will continue to review as we go along.”
