Will the Police Department see a Reform in the New Year?

Dean Barrow

The scourge of crime and violence continues into 2019 and government, as well as the Belize Police Department is still very much hamstrung in stemming the bloodshed.  It is a point that the prime minister acknowledges as a weakness that will be addressed in the coming year through a reform of the department.

Prime Minister Dean Barrow

“Of course, nothing is ever completely smooth in life. As the inversion of the old saw has it, you can’t have silver linings without clouds. And perhaps the darkest, most threatening of those clouds is our continuing inability to contain crime and violence; to hold down the murder rate; to provide the proper level of citizen security. Now it has long since been admitted that our crime fighting approach has to be interdisciplinary, involving inter-agency collaboration and the deployment of a far flung net of social strategies. What is also inarguable, though, is that the Belize Police Department will remain the centerpiece of the effort to eliminate the triple scourge of gangs, guns and drugs. 2019 will therefore see a concentrated effort on reform for a more effective Belize Police Department. This reform will start at the very top and permeate throughout all ranks; it will include better training, better administration and better resources. We are therefore optimistic about better results.”