Police Commissioner Addresses Crime Situation in Belize for July and August

The crime rate in Belize has been a discussion that never gets old.  The topic has been debated on many platforms, and involving many sides.  In many instances, the Police Commissioner Chester Williams has been at the center of the debate as most times he is blamed for the crimes in the country.  The commissioner made an appearance on The Morning Show this week where he spoke on the crime situation in Belize for the months of July and August.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Belize: “In July we had the flare up between George Street and Southside and that led to a couple murders. Then we had the state of emergency that was called and I can say that during the month of the state of emergency we had no gang-related murders. So for the month of August all the murders we had, except for the one last night with Orell Leslie, are not gang-related but rather personal issues between people that developed and escalated so rapidly to where people end up getting killed. It is extremely challenging because the police don’t know when you and somebody have a personal issue unless you come to us. But despite that when these left field type of murders occur some people still tend to want to blame the police for it. In some instances it is politicized because people want to gain political points through the misfortune of families and I don’t think that when it comes to the issue of crime it should be a political issue because certainly it doesn’t matter who the government of the day is crime is always going to be there and what we must do is to try to find ways and means by which we can address the issues and that is exactly what we are currently doing through the LIU.”