Police station undergoing renovations
You’ve no doubt noticed the extensive renovations underway at Eastern Division Police Station on Queen Street. Tonight, the Government Press Office takes you behind the fence to see the work being carried out on the busiest police station in the country.
Construction work continues on the Queen Street Police Station in Belize City to improve the effectiveness and working environment of the Police Department. The work ongoing is general and includes renovations on all areas of the compound as explained by contractor Elvis Stevens of Stevens and Associates.
Elvis Stevens, Stevens and Associates
“We’re doing steel work, paint, concrete, cabinet and plumbing. Each person has a part of the work that they are doing. Some are doing burglar bars also. Right now we have already handed over the first building and we’re looking to hand over the Fonseca building which we are painting right now.”
Assistant Inspector of Police Ralph Moody, along with Miss Belize Viola Jeffrey, was given a tour and update of the renovations.
A.I.P. Ralph Moody
“We have a new building at the patrol branch. The patrol branch section will be located downstairs where we will be having a lot of space. The O.C. Patrol Branch will be located upstairs where we have the secretary, the typist and storage area for keeping our documents.
We also have the cellblock, the holding area for juveniles, which will be moving downstairs, where we will have more space for them. We also have three more cell blocks: one for females and the rest for males.”
One of the highlights of the new Eastern Division is the relocation of the forensic service from the Northern Highway to this compound. The forensic service assists the police in identifying and processing scientific evidence that is used in a court of law. Genoveva Marin, Chief Analyst, explains how this movement affects the service that they provide.
Genoveva Marin, Chief Forensic Analyst
“We will be in a much closer proximity to the investigation and senior detectives at the Criminal Investigations Branch. And in so doing we will have a closer developing teamwork in coordinating with these units’ near proximity to each other. The evidence will be much easier to handle, to identify exhibits with potential scientific evidence for us to use and analyze.”
Funding for these improvements came from the government of Belize, the business community and the U.S. government. General Alan Usher is the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security.
General Allan Usher, P.S., Min. of National Security
“In conjunction with the Commissioner of Police and his staff, basically the ministry has been able to secure a certain amount of funding from both public and private sectors to support the rebuilding program. From the Government of Belize we have been able to secure just over $123,000. There was a donation from the U.S. government, for which we are quite grateful, of just about $140,000 and there have been many donations from the private sector mostly in the form of building materials: cement blocks, reinforcement steel and sand and gravel.”
The overall objectives of these renovations are to improve the service that police offer to the public and the working environment for the men and women of the Police Department.
General Allan Usher
“In terms of the improvement to the facility at Queen Street, which is the main police station servicing Belize City, we’re looking at proper accommodation for the anti-violence crime unit, for the anti-money laundering unit and the domestic violence unit. On the matter of the second objective it would be improving the welfare and the morale of the actual police men and women that serve out of that precinct.”
Funding for the Queen Street project is being provided by the governments of Belize and the United States. Much of the construction equipment has been donated by local businesses.
