Police Ramp Up Their Presence in Rocky Road Neighborhood

Kareem Musa

As the family of Benjamin Hyde Senior mourns his death, the Belize Police Department remains in high gear, patrolling the streets of Belize City, particularly the neighborhood on the south side that includes Rocky Road. There are serious concerns of retaliation following the weekend murder of Benjamin Hyde Sr. The forty-nine-year-old was by no means involved in an ongoing feud between rival gangs in the Old Capital but was senselessly murdered near King Street and East Canal on Father’s Day, as he rode towards his daughter’s house. This evening, Minister of Home Affairs Kareem Musa spoke on government’s response to the escalating hostility.

Kareem Musa, Minister of New Growth Industries

“We have, along with the Belize Police Department, certainly upped the presence of the police patrols in particular neighborhoods where it is anticipated that there is a likelihood of retaliation.  As you know, a gentleman lost his life on Father’s Day and I don’t care who they say was his son. That man was not involved in any crime so it speaks volumes to where we have come as a society for such a cruel and certainly mindless, senseless act to have taken place.  It certainly has ripped the family apart, but at the same time, the Belize Police Department understand the task at hand and it is employing its best effort, like I mentioned earlier, just being, in terms of the surveillance in that particular area, we have already retrieved and recovered two illegal firearms in just one day.  And so we are very wary of the situation and its certainly a very tense time, but the police is doing its best that it can right now.”