A 4000 Strong Belize Police Department?

Kareem Musa

The People’s United Party’s manifesto committed to making the Belize Police Department four thousand strong and on November eleventh, when they formed the government, the people are holding them to that promise. At the moment there are over two thousand cops in the force and considering all the constraints the government faces, including dwindling coffers – can they afford to recruit over a thousand more officers when the economy is struggling?  Minister of Home Affairs Kareem Musa says that their plan is attainable.

Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs

“There is a need for more police officers. We have had meetings with the ComPol and we have done our assessments. Especially now with COVID, I can tell you that we have currently one hundred and nine  officers that are positive and one hundred and fifteen that are awaiting their test results and so we are understaffed especially now in COVID. But even moving forward it is not like COVID will be with us forever. Our financial state will not be in the mud forever. We will bounce back as a country. It will take Some time but I foresee that whenever it is we do rebound and we do bounce back that getting this pledge fulfilled is something that I am very serious about increasing the ranks and we mentioned it on the last occasion of doing it incrementally. Obviously, it won’t be four thousand officers one lick, but perhaps taking it up to three thousand within a year I think is a reasonable thing to expect.”

Reporter
“How will you pay their salaries?”

Kareem Musa
“Like I said we are not going to be in COVID forever; so, we will get out of this.”