Park Rangers Now Certified Special Constables: Enhancing Protected Area Patrols

Thirty-one park rangers, who patrol protected areas, are now certified special constables after completing a special training course. The ten-day training was hosted by the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Climate Change, and Disaster Risk Management in collaboration with the police department. The training covered aspects of the constitution and the Laws of Belize that will guide rangers on how to interact with those found committing criminal acts while out on patrol. Saul Cruz, Director of the National Biodiversity Office in the Ministry, explained that the training culminated with simulations that allowed the rangers to practice what they learned.

Saul Cruz, Acting Director, National Biodiversity Office: “The objective of the training is really to build our national capacities within our ranger force, our protected areas rangers force to have that ability and that full legal understanding first of all and then that legal backing of their enforcement duties and so they can carry out that on the ground and on the jungle patrols that kind of enforcement. The full scope of law enforcement is not just walking the jungle but also you know if you encounter any illegal activity then the other side or the next step of law enforcement is then case file preparation and management. And so recording of statements is a very critical component in building a case file and so it gets into some of the details and the very nitty gritty in the consideration of who to go about recording some of these statements, if you’re going to interview a person who has been detained or is suspected to be involved in an illegal activity the procedures to go about recording that statement for that individual as well. It also covers dealing with minors because again in the jungle sometimes people use minors, kids, as means of alarming them that somebody is coming so many times you encounter that minors are involved, are also a part of these operations and so how to go about respecting the rights of minors and how to go about dealing with minors as well is very important. The training ends in the last two days they are given a scenario, they are given a staged operation where two individuals or a few individuals are carrying out an illegal activity and so they put their eight days theory into practice which ends with a mock court trial. The rangers are separated into groups and they are then able to observe each other executing the operations itself. And then they are able to positively criticize the good and the bad and where they can improve in carrying out operations.”

Minister of Sustainable Development, Climate Change, and Disaster Risk Management Orlando Habet attended the closing ceremony of the training which was held on March 22.