Western Belize Police Receive Vehicle Donation Amid Crime Surge

Today, police in western Belize received a donation of motor vehicles amid transportation issues and an uptick in crime. Last month, the twin towns of San Ignacio and Santa Elena saw an increase in violent crimes, forcing business owners to call on the department to make decisive changes. Since then, over two dozen officers have been transferred and additional boots have been placed on the ground. And, today, to bolster the efforts, the Belize Tourism Board handed over two new pickup trucks and a motorcycle to the San Ignacio Police Station. Commissioner of Police Chester Williams spoke about the police’s continued efforts and why crime is everyone’s business.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police: “We must understand that while crime occurs it is not the sole responsibility of the police to be able to stop crime or even to detect crime. The police are just a part of that vehicle that deals with that aspect of our lives. The citizenry have a great responsibility in making sure that they play their role in how we address the crime issue. So when we have someone who speaks and says that they have evidence of a woman being raped on a surveillance camera and refuses to provide that surveillance footage to the police to be able to investigate properly that incident then certainly that person is a contributor to our crime problem. How dare you expect police to be able to solve the problem when you have the answer, you have the piece of the puzzle that the police needs and you refuse to provide it to the police ? It is nonsensical of anyone to believe that the police can function on their own because we do not have police on every street corner, manning ever house in this country. The citizenry has a role to play and we expect that the citizenry is going to play that role and that is the reason why we do a lot of community policing outreach to try and reach out to the different areas, reach out to people and let them see that we want that partnership with them.”

Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Tourism Nicole Solano underscored the need for the police to keep crime under control. He spoke about how crime affects the country’s image and shapes the view of foreigners.

Nicole Solano, CEO, Ministry of Tourism: “We look forward to an ongoing partnership. We recognize in tourism the importance of safety and security and of course San Ignacio and Cayo in general is one of the main tourism destinations and we have to maintain safety and security for not only our citizens but our guests as well. So my remarks are really brief to say to you that this is one of many areas that we collaborate on and will continue to collaborate one. We know that the government has limited resources in many areas and we have to try to see how we can access the resources that we need in order to do the work that we have to do. So I take this opportunity to thank you for the existing work and the good work that you are doing to keep the safety of our citizens intact on a regular basis and our guests and to commit to you that we will continue to work together to ensure that our guests remain safe. Remember it’s not only about the actual safety it’s the perception of safety. Every time there are incidents these things go internationally and they affect whether or not travelers want to come to Belize or not. So we continue to see this as one of our top priorities and will continue to be supportive.”

The vehicles came at a cost of $67,000 each.