Commissioner Defends Police Amid Harassment Allegations in Western Belize

The Commissioner of Police says his department has launched a relentless and unapologetic crackdown on criminals in western Belize. Williams’ statements come after a resident of Santa Elena and San Ignacio Town reached out to the media claiming police harassment. Last week, Khader Habet alleged that police have searched his home over a dozen times without warrants, prompting him to seek legal action against the department. Habet denied being involved in criminal activities and insisted he was being innocently targeted. But, today, Wiliams vehemently explained that police out West are acting on intelligence and denied his allegations.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police: “As a department we have taken a serious stand to do our best to restore that sense of safety to the people of San Ignacio and Santa Elena and  as a part of that, as the Commissioner of Police, I have given directions to my officers in terms of what I want to see them do to make the good people of San Ignacio and Santa Elena feel safe. I think that the situation reaches the stage the other day where businesses were closing down and many others were threatening to close down as well because of the fact that they didn’t feel safe as a result of criminal activities. And most of these activities are driven by persons who want to have dominance in the drug world. And so when it comes to the young man Habet, what he failed to say to the media is that he is in this area where police operations in the past and even recently had led to the discovery of a large number of drugs and a number of firearms hidden in the lot right beside him. We know how most of these people in the criminal world operates because they know the police is going to be targeting them and coming to their homes to search. They’re not going to hide these items in their yard or in their homes. They would hide it next door, so that if the police finds it they will not be able to tie it to them. Our intelligence has told us many things where he’s concerned, and he’s a person of interest to us in that area. And so the police is going to continue to go to him. If he feels like going to the media and complain is going to have the police back down from him, that is not going to happen.”

Williams added that he has directed officers in the Town Towns to put pressure on known criminal elements operating in the Cayo District.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police: “I want them to keep constant pressure on those persons who live to make the lives of our law abiding people miserable. And so if you are part of the crime world you will see the police and you’ll see the police every day. If it reaches a point that they get frustrated and have to move and go somewhere else, then so shall it be. But we will do what needs to be done to keep the people of San Ignacio and Santa Elena safe and by extension the entire country because I have also said to the other commanders across the country that every area that is known to be a gang base or a drug base or a criminal base, we have to go after them and we must go at them intensely. The public have always been complaining that the police know who the criminals are and these criminals move around freely and do what they want. Well, we’re taking a stand now. And I would hope that the people are going to support us in what we’re doing, because it has been done with the view to ensure that the masses of this country are safe. So I hear the complaint of Mr. Habet, but we will continue to do what needs to be done.”

We note that portions of the Cayo District are included in the current State of Emergency.