Police Precinct Moves to King Street

The Belize Police Department has relocated its Precinct One Police Station to King Street in Belize City.  According to the police officials, the newly renovated building has sufficient space and comes equipped with amenities to boost the morale of the cops who will work there.  Today, the Belize Police Department held a ribbon cutting ceremony and News Five stopped in at the inauguration.

Chester Williams

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“The Precinct One area, I must say, is not one of but it is the most challenging area of policing in this country. And you all would know the reason why and you just step outside the gate and you look around you see a ghetto. And the area is heavily gang infested and we do have gangs who are at war with each other. So, Mr. Castillo will say to you that over the past few days there are a number of gun shots fired in the evenings and these are challenges the police officers have to deal with in this area must address and deal with on a daily basis. So you would understand that to ensure that that police officers can come and relax after taking a patrol is very important not only for their health but also their wellbeing. So, we are very grateful, Minister, for allowing us to get this new location and more so to ensure that the money is made available to pay for it.”

Kareem Musa

Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs

“The commission we give is to focus on interventions, prevention, shared responsibility, partnership and opportunities. This opportunity will shock this precinct community and create a refreshing turning point for this vulnerable area of our city. The truth is that the more work we do outside the walls of this police station, the less broken lives we will have to deal with inside the police station.   The precinct community has the church attended to by our first governor general; that church is one hundred feet away from here on West Street. This precinct is home to the iconic stone jam; it is the area that raised the constitutional attorney and very good friend Anthony Sylvester who still lives up the street, as well as the former female ombudsman Cynthia Pitts whose house is literally across the street. This precinct community is where you can get the best jam roll from Dits and the family of Mr. Craig or where the legendary Mr. Trejo’s panades are served hot. The uniform, the power nor the station should separate us from the people we serve; neither the criminals nor the bad eggs because they are the minority. This station today is a positive shift; a new start; fresh paint; new spaces; better working areas inside but the test of how the community sees us is in how we treat them.”