Viewers says Belize should invest in a witness protection program
The murder of Shelmadine Sanchez and Ivan Francis, last weekend, in separate incidents were supposedly linked due to the fact that they were both witnesses to homicide. As a result, NEWS FIVE posed the question: Should Belize invest in a witness protection program? A total of two hundred twenty-two voters weighed in and of that number: two hundred said ‘yes’, while only twenty-two said ‘no’. One viewer commented saying “I strongly support the witness protection program. People should not live in fear for their lives if they do something right, like reporting on any crimes they see happening.” Another said that “It would be so great if the government could afford this program. Then I believe more witnesses would want to talk.” Get involved by emailing your comments and responses to questions@channel5belize.com or by sending a text, using SMART phones only, to 8686. You can also participate in our online poll at www.channel5belize.com.
I do agree there should be a witness programme, but more importantly government should invest in a state of the art forensic lab staffed by highly trained professionals in order to improve our conviction rate.
……… Belize is so small and our people love to talk so where the hell would they hide witnesses? What the government, by way of the police department, needs to do is invest in equipment that will help to gather proper evidence that will be sufficient enough to prove these criminals to be guilty rather than rely on a physical witness. Crime will continue to wreak havoc on our country until the police are better paid and equipped to do their job right.
The only way the Government can gurantee the safety of these witnesses is to hang the criminals and all of their affiliate.
I also don’t know how practical it would be to have a witness protection program because the Police Dept can’t protect these witnesses 24/7.With the present conviction rate for murder i do not see how this witness protection would work.