ComPol Chester Williams on Crime Stats So Far for 2021

Chester Williams

During today’s police press brief in Belmopan, Commissioner of Police Chester Williams was asked about the crime statistics for the first six weeks of the year. There have been a number of murders, but major crimes are still down when compared to other years. ComPol Williams says that Belize has been doing well when compared to the region.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“Considering the current climate we are in, policing wise we are doing well compared to our neighbours in the Caribbean and the region. I indeed saw what is happening in Jamaica and right now they are scrambling to try to find a solution to their problem, while in Belize we are managing. Yes, it is not where we want it to be, but when we compare this year to the previous years, the only year we have had a better start than this year would take us all the way back to 2008 which again would show that despite the fact that we are policing in a pandemic, for the most part we have been short of human resources because of persons who are ill and our attrition continues, but despite that we are still able to contain crime to a certain level.”

There are currently about thirty officers out sick with COVID-19.