Lake-I State of Emergency Winds Down

Chester Williams

The thirty-day state of emergency for a handful of young men believed to be actively involved with two feuding Belize City gangs is coming to an end. Over the past four weeks, a sense of calm has been restored in the Lake Independence community after police rounded up as many as thirty-one individuals and locked them up at the Belize Central Prison.  The mass detention was made in the wake of a simmering rivalry that resulted in several persons being injured and at least one man being executed. Commissioner of Police Chester Williams:

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“Yes, we’re coming to the end of it and the LIU, the human development, community rehab and a number of other organizations have been in dialog working with these young men while in prison, all in an effort to try to see how they can resolve the ongoing tension between them. There is not intent at this time to extend the S.O.E. We believe that they have come to some resolution and we anticipate that with their release, things will continue as is.  Certainly, if we see that they want to rear their ugly heads again, then we’ll do what needs to be done to protect the greater good of society and the law-abiding among us.”