State of Emergency Declared After Triple Murder Shakes Belize

A State of Emergency has been declared in several high-risk areas of the Belize and Cayo Districts following a violent spike in crime. This comes after three men were killed in less than 26 hours, prompting the National Security Council to act swiftly. The emergency measures, which take immediate effect, grant law enforcement expanded powers to restore public safety. Police are set to detain and transport suspected gang members to the Belize Central Prison. The SOE covers multiple areas, including parts of Belize City, Ladyville, and villages in the Cayo District, such as Roaring Creek and Camalote. Specific zones affected include Cemetery Road, Queen Charlotte Street, and the George Price Highway, among others. The SOE will last for one month but can be extended by the National Assembly for up to twelve months if needed. Yesterday, Commissioner of Police Dr. Richard Rosado stated he would be seeking to have the SOE last for as long as six months, to ensure the situation is brought under control. A number of gangs has been identified under the SOE from various neighbors, including the Majestic Alley area. This morning, Fort George Area Representative, Henry Charles Usher weighed in on the move and explained that while he felt disheartened by the SOE, he supports the police’s decision. 

Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Public Service: “It’s unfortunate. I always feel down when we have to have a state of emergency because it signals that we’ve gotten to a level where we have to really curtail the constitutional provisions for individuals and it’s never something that we should look at lightly and I’m sure that the new Commissioner of Police felt this was the best way forward. I know that they had a meeting yesterday and they decided to put in place this state of emergency. I’m hoping this can cool down the area because another area we have to look at whenever we send anybody to the prison it costs $19 a day per person. So if you send up a hundred persons for thirty days that’s $19 x 100 x 30 I think that’s $57,000 taxpayers have to pay that as well. So there’s also that aspect of it that we have to look at. But certainly the Commissioner, the police department felt that this was a way to kind of calm down the situation which has flared up recently in a number of areas. We have to work with it. I’m hoping that it can end very soon.”

Reporter: Would you be in agreeance with it being extended all the way to six months ?

Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Public Service: “I would have to hear the reasoning why they would want to extend it for six months so I would give them an opportunity to convince me. I think in the first instance it’s for 30 days I believe so we would need to hear from the Commissioner, hear from the police department as to why they would want to extend it but I can’t answer that until I hear what their position is after the first initial part of the state of emergency why they would want to extend it.”

While the Commissioner of Police Dr. Richard Rosado noted yesterday that the SOE will not target alleged gang members not involved in the feud, Minister Usher noted that in pervious instances the SOE has been used a blanket approach. 

Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Public Service: “That’s always a concern that persons who just because of where they live they get caught up in this net and that’s why I’m saying that it’s always something that I don’t feel good about in terms of having to go to this level but again, the police department, the commissioner, the Ministry of Home Affairs felt that this was needed at this point to calm down what was happening so we will support it, we will work with the communities, explain to them why we have this state of emergency and explain to them why it is important that we keep down this level of violence and level of crime because we don’t want it to escalate to a point where citizens feel insecure or citizen security is at risk and so yes the innocent persons always get swept up whenever there’s a drag net like this and I’m hoping that that can be kept to a minimum.”

The State of Emergency took effect yesterday. So far, the Belize Police Department has not provided any figures on how many persons have been detained under the SOE.