Howell Gillett is Back; Ghost Town is His First Stop
He’s back in the city after a three-year absence and a transfer within the Belize Police Department. Assistant Commissioner of Police Howell Gillett officially resumed his duties in the Old Capital on Tuesday as the new Regional Commander of Eastern Division. For many who are familiar with Gillett’s style of policing, community outreach plays a major part in his approach to crime fighting. On his second day on the job, A.C.P. Gillett teamed up with Operations Commander, Dr. Richard Rosado to visit with residents of the Mayflower Street community who have been plagued by gang violence. We’ve reported extensively on the conflict within the area and on Wednesday afternoon we joined the brass of the police department as they walked through the devastated neighborhood. We begin tonight’s newscast with a bold attempt being made by two respected law enforcement officers who are intent on helping to reshape the image of Ghost Town. News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
Healing a deeply fractured community that has, in recent years, plunged into chaos, amid an implosion within the gang that controls this neighborhood, is a mammoth undertaking. For these two career lawmen who have devoted several years of their professional lives to community policing, the attempt begins with a call on the elders. Sandra Uter is the matriarch of at least two generations of her children. Today, she is meeting with Deputy Commissioner of Police Dr. Richard Rosado and Assistant Commissioner of Police Howell Gillett. The outreach is part of a strategy to reunite Ghost Town.
A.C.P. Howell Gillett
A.C.P. Howell Gillett, Commander, Eastern Division, Belize Police Department
“The police cannot do it alone, I believe I’ve said that already, but if we engage the community highly in what you’ve seen today and in other initiatives that we will do, will be able to solve the issues.”
Those concerns include an internal strife within the group. Over the years, Jervis Diamond, no stranger to the law, has risen to prominence in the Mayflower/Banak Street neighborhood, for all the wrong reasons. Since he began working closely with the Leadership Intervention Unit, Diamond is intent on turning a new leaf.
Voice of: Jervis Diamond, Mayflower Street Resident
“We respect Mr. Rosado and ih whole team weh di work and thing because he walk round, ask weh da di problem, try [help], you know, and we like that because we noh sih no police eena brown di cohn thru di areas like that, yoh check. Dat da di first thing. First time I meet di man thru di areas I frighten cause I walk through di alley and I buk up to dehn, I wahn know if I di get ker now.”
That encounter did not result in Diamond being arrested. In fact, notwithstanding his rap sheet, they established a friendship. Through that rapport, Dr. Rosado has been able to check up on residents of this disrupted community. He’s relying on that connection to reintroduce A.C.P. Gillett as the new commander for Eastern Division.
Dr. Richard Rosado
Dr. Richard Rosado, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Belize Police Department
“The neighborhood has been receptive to the new commander and I believe it is a good start, it is a good direction that we want to go and Mr. Gillett comes with a wealth of experience of engaging the community and I believe he will embrace all the initiatives that we have started with the L.I.U.”
Beyond those initiatives, however, is an urgent need for neighbors to come together. The chasm that has formed within Ghost Town has led to factions going at each other with deadly consequences. It’s the kind of bitter rivalry that has divided families.
Isani Cayetano
“What does it take for you guys to hold it down and just do the straight and narrow?”
Voice of: Jervis Diamond
Voice of: Jervis Diamond
“We always hold it down, we noh goh trouble nobody. Dah just people cohn round di areas and problem happen and the first thing when problem happen dehn seh Mayflower. Dah noh everything da Mayflower, yoh cyant paint di area blacker than how it done paint black. Yoh know, when di areas do good, like cohn big up di areas. Put di areas pan news just like when time something bad happen round di areas or somebody from round di areas do something bad unu hurry fi seh Mayflower.”
To effect meaningful change here, A.C.P. Gillett, on his second day as head of Eastern Division, is trying to set up a small group of representative people that would influence the behavior of others within the area.
A.C.P. Howell Gillett
“We want to be able to create focus groups within these areas because we cannot put a police officer in every location. So the community, there has to be a point where the police hands over the community to the community. But to do that we have to create trusted people, we have to find trusted people within the communities and work closely with them because it’s not everybody that makes up the criminal elements.”
Isani Cayetano reporting for News Five.
