Belize Launches Laboratory Information Management System to Enhance Forensic Capabilities

The Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) was officially launched this morning, spearheaded by the Ministry of Home Affairs.  It is a system that is aimed at advancing Belize’s security and one that will be used by the National Forensic Science Service (NFSS).  The system puts the NFSS on par with other forensic laboratories within the region and will allow for greater collaboration within the criminal justice system. At the launch ceremony Executive Director of the NFSS Gian Cho, explained how the system works, while Minister of Home Affairs and New Growth Industries Kareem Musa, said that the ultimate beneficiaries of the system will be the people of Belize.

Bringing the LIMS to Belize was made possible through a collaboration between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the Ministry of Home Affairs. At the launch Her. Excellency Michelle Kwan, United States Ambassador to Belize spoke on the collaboration between the US and Belize in the area of citizen security.

 As Ambassador Kwan mentioned the LIMS is an initiative of the InfoSegura project, which helps institutions in Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic in designing and implementing evidence-based citizen security policies. Since the LIMS has been installed, the NFSS has migrated approximately thirty-thousand legacy cases from the old database. The Ministry of Home Affairs has trained around three hundred police officers to use the system.