Senior Police Officers on high alert for Easter weekend

Crispin Jefferies

So if you’re wondering how the city will look after you leave for the Easter holidays, well Jeffries says his senior officers are on high alert and will not yield to the criminal element.  Jeffries and his team will man the streets this Easter, but the PM is more focused on strengthening the Department.

Dean Barrow

“I commit again to providing the Belize Police Department with all the resources that I muster.  If I have to reorient some of the spending priorities, it is critical that government provide them with the wherewithal and I go on record to say that I will do just that.  Mr Segura reported that already under the aegis of the IDB there is movement so that the project that I spoke about can be implemented as quickly as possible.  One of the Jamaican figured involved with a similar project also funded by the IDB will be visiting.  It’s going to be an exchange of information but the bottom line is that programme will be rolled out with maximum urgency.”

Crispin Jeffries, Commissioner of Police

“Commanders are reporting their patrols, their presence, their visits to financial institutions and they are very much aware of the heightened concern of the populace and the business community.  Our banks are very much concerned, the management from these institutions have been in touch with myself and the other senior officers and they are reporting the presence of police officers.  In one instance there has been a visit to a Courts outlet and that too has been responded to.  The criminal element is very brazen, very aggressive and we will have none of that without us having similar and proportionate response and the proportionality will be that if we are confronted we will have to speak to people in the court system because they will be shot and killed when they are caught.  There is no doubt in my mind that if they can operate this way with impunity we will have to respond in a similar manner.  There is no telling when it will happen but I can tell you that our officers are being taught and told to act professionally but take decisive action.”

Jeffries says the police officers who are being dealt with also quite possibly misled the department in solving certain crimes around town by deliberately passing on wrong information.  In addition, the mastermind might also have been involved in the murder of Christopher Galvez last December.  Meanwhile with regard the shooting death of Corporal Gavin Sanchez in San Pedro, Jeffries says Sergeant Paulino Reyes is being investigated to determine whether he did shoot Sanchez in self defense as he claimed.  Sanchez was shot nine times early on the morning of March nineteenth.  Reyes still faces disciplinary action for a previous incident in San Pedro in which he assaulted another officer.  While the press conference was underway, there were robberies occurring in the city. Reports are that a Courts agent was robbed and DHL was also targeted by armed thieves.