Belmopan Cops Prison Visit Scares Kids Straight

Today Belmopan police took twenty youth from the capital to the Kolbe Foundation-managed Central Prison at Hattieville, though it was to prevent future crime, not punish offenders. The Officer Commanding Belmopan Police Formation, Senior Superintendent Howell Gillett says that young people often don’t go to the prison until they become first time offenders. The visitors were given a stark introduction to prison life and the O.C. says he wants to repeat this exercise as often as possible so that the message gets out.

Voice of: Sr. Supt. Howell Gillett, O.C. Belmopan Police

“We know for a fact that young people don’t go the prison on visitation unless there is a family member behind bars. The next time they’ll be there – and it’s very sad – is if they become an inmate, as a first-time offender. So we’ve taken them and we are very hopeful that the interaction and the speeches delivered will help to scare them off from wanting to go to prison. So we are very happy for the great collaboration between the Belmopan Police and Kolbe Foundation. These young people were hand-picked; these are young people who have been in a fight or in a skirmish previously, and we want to show them that if they continue on that track, prison is where you’re heading to, so you have an option to be out. And also as was told to the young people, in prison you don’t have access. And young people love electronic devices, whether it be an IPad or a cell phone to play games, to be on social media – all of that is taken away. So the message is strong today that coming to prison as an inmate is not an option.”