Central Americans study Belize community policing

Two months ago Carlos Perdomo, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of National Security and Superintendent of Police Yolanda Murray, visited Costa Rica at the invitation of the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights. There, they attended a one-day meeting that focussed on community policing. It was at that gathering that the Institute became impressed with the number of programs that have been launched in Belize. As a result of that meeting in Costa Rica, since Thursday, two representatives of the Institute have been in Belize on an inspection tour. We caught up with Murray and Gilda Segreda Sagot, a consultant for the Inter American Institute for Human Rights, as they observed a presentation by the Police Youth Service Corp.

Yolanda Murray, Superintendent of Police

“They had the belief at the time that we did not have any community policing program since Belize, as according to them, there aren’t any in Central America. And when I explained about our community policing programs in Belize that is the Police Education Programme, the Police First Offenders Programme, the Zone Beat Liaison Officers Programme and the Police Youth Corp. they were fascinated by the programs that we have in Belize and thought that our programs sound very interesting to them and that they could use these programs in Central America with the other police forces and at that time they decided to come to Belize to see these programs first hand instead of just hearing it and this is what happened.”

Gilda Segreda Sagot, Consultant, I.I.D.H.

“Really, we are very impressed about the police community programs and really we know, we are sure that you can help the rest of the countries of Central America to develop programs in this sense with the philosophy of doing things, very interesting with a real approach with the police and the community.”

Q: “What has been the problem as to why other countries have been unable to come up with programs such as what you have been seeing here in Belize?”

Gilda Segreda Sagot

“I think that most of the police are just coming out of a very difficult situation and they were military police before and also I think it is a question of spirit and cultural values. You have the participation with the community, like a real framework of your activities and of the way you are doing things.”

Some of the projects the Costa Rican officials observed included the Conscious Youth Development Programme, the Youth Enhancement Academy and the Police First Offenders Programme.