Policing Belize City with Reflective Vests

Dezerie Magdaleno

In Belize City, where a majority of the outdoor festivities will be concentrated, additional measures are being put into place to mitigate instances of crime and violence.  Not only will officers on patrol be wearing reflective vests, they will also be conducting body searches on persons attending alfresco activities.  Assistant Commissioner of Police Dezerie Magdaleno assures the public that all efforts will be made to ensure public safety.

ACP Dezerie Magdaleno, Commander, Eastern Division

“As we approach the New Year’s weekend, we are cognizant of the fact that within the Belize District and Belize City in particular, there will be a number of social activities.  For one, there will be a huge event at the B.T.L. Park which is an open-air activity and we want to assure the public that the police department will be out there in full force to ensure that persons who are attending these social functions are safe.  We also want to ask the public’s cooperation in complying with certain procedures that will be in place, in terms of these open-air events, that you are searched prior to entering, for the safety of everyone, as safety is of paramount importance to us.  We will be activating these checkpoints that we have across the city.  They are placed at strategic locations and they will be simultaneously activated.  We know that a lot of people really look forward to or are anticipating the welcoming of a new year and so we expect that our streets will be very, very active.  But we intend to light up the city, particularly with the usage of reflective vests, as you’ve seen worn by Mr. Broaster.  These are worn at nighttime and we know when we have these large activities, many times police officers cannot identify another one because of the swell in a crowd, so we’re utilizing these vests.  From today we’ll be having our officers, tonight, right into the weekend, into the new year, utilizing these vests for these mass gatherings and these functions that we have.  I know that there may be persons who are wondering if they should come out and if they should even participate or attend activities because of incidents that would have occurred in the past that created scare, but we want to assure the public that we will do the best that we can and what we always do to ensure that everyone who is out there partying and partying and bringing in the new year is safe.”