FBI conducts forensic course

The Belize Police Force has been criticized for their lack of evidence in key cases and the way evidence is collected. It is a problem the Ministry of National Security is addressing. Through a joint sponsorship with the US Embassy and the government of Belize, a one-week forensic course is underway at the Police Training School in Belmopan. Twenty-eight members of the Belize Police Force and forensic personnel will be trained in forensic investigation techniques, crime scene photography and crime scene processing. There are three FBI special agents conducting the course. Robert Casey is an FBI Supervisory Special Agent in the International Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program.

Robert Casey, Special Agent, FBI

“This course is the crime scene photography and processing course. As with most modern law enforcement agencies, how an agency acquires evidence, how it preserves it, how it is presented at a trial is very, very important to the outcome of the judicial proceeding. Sometimes it is a difference between a subject being acquitted or found guilty is the quality of the evidence presented in a trial. It all starts back at the crime scene.”

In declaring the course open, Jorge Espat, Minister of National Security said it should vastly improve the skills of officers in investigating crimes which will bring to justice those who perpetrate crimes. The course ends on Friday, October eighth.