GOB Continues to Strengthen Citizen Security through InfoSegura Project

Belize continues on its path of strengthening its crime-fighting framework and justice data platforms. The Ministry of Home Affairs and New Growth Industries received a donation of Information Communication Technology (ICT) equipment, which is intended to ease the process of accessing vital information that will boost the security of Belizean citizens. The Minister of Home Affairs, Kareem Musa, says this equipment will improve both the Belize Police Department and the National Forensic Science Service in their jobs at effectively gathering and storing criminal data.

Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs and New Growth Industries: “This is essential not just for the administration of justice in Belize but also to provide critical data analysis and information that will help me as minister, our policy makers in Cabinet, interagency partners including the Belize Central Prison, the Belize Crime Observatory and the Judiciary and many other stakeholders and partners to be more effective in playing their role in helping to reduce crime and violence in Belize. We are happy to say that our departments and units are staffed with capable women and men who can put this ICT equipment to efficient use even with the most sophisticated equipment you need a skilled cadre of professionals to operate them well. We expect our teams to work arduously towards addressing any knowledge and skills gaps that exist so that they can best leverage these ICT resources. On behalf of the Ministry of Home Affairs and New Growth Industries as well as our interagency team and particularly the recipient entities the Belize Police Department and the National Forensic Science Service I wish to thank the United States Agency for International Development USAID for this generous donation which includes five Lenovo PCs with preloaded productivity software and 10 GPS enabled cameras to strengthen evidence based decisions and policies within these two core law enforcement agencies.”

The donation is valued at forty-four thousand six hundred ninety-five US dollars, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The Executive Director of the Belize National Forensic Science Service, Gian Cho, says this equipment will be beneficial in collecting and providing quality crime scene data which will then improve crime statistics.

Gian Cho, Executive Director, Belize National Forensic Service: “We always say quality forensic science starts at the crime scene. Similarly in terms of crime statistics quality crime data also starts at the crime scene. Having these GPS enabled cameras will allow the forensic department specifically the scenes of crime unit to digitalize the process of capturing georeferencing data while the crime scene is being processed simultaneously so it removes an additional step of having to use a separate device to capture the coordinates, it will be embedded automatically the photographs and that can enhance our processing of that information later on, can complement what we’re already trying to do with GIC, with the Crimes Investigation Branch and the other specialized units and the forensic laboratory in terms of generating actionable intelligence data as well. So it’s just one more step or one more measure along a series of interventions and innovations that we have added through the InfoSegura project to enhance the way we capture data and utilize data and analyze that data and share that data with the wider interagency team.  So again on behalf of all the partners thank you very much.”