We should probably be grateful that 24 hours have passed without another murder but that's hardly the case for Belize City residents still reeling form a deadly Sunday, Monday and Tuesday when three hardworking and upstanding Belize City residents were murdered in robbery attempts.
Tonight there is an increased deployment of police officers on the streets and today Commissioner of Police Jose Zetina bragged that his investigators have already solved two of the three murders, which gripped the city.
Jose Zetina, Commissioner of Police
"We are just getting to see how the criminals are reacting nowadays. They are getting so brazen now that in broad daylight they are perpetrating crime, serious crimes. But one message I can send to the criminals is that they are going to get the stiff hand of the law because of the three murders that recently happened over the 72 hours period I can safely say that we have solved two of them already, all persons are in custody at this time."
Keith Swift,
"And should the rest of society be under siege or wary of this level of crime?"
Jose Zetina,
"Well the public surely has to be concerned about what is happening but to be under siege...I don't think we have to put it that way. I think it is a matter of the people should now join forces with members of the police department in getting this matter settled and by solving it. I mean they have to come forward and tell us exactly what is happening on the street."
Keith Swift,
"Is the police department going to do anything differently to prevent crimes like these?"
Jose Zetina,
"We are trying we are increasing our patrols in the sense that we have put additional people, certain units have been reduced to cope with the situation but everybody is fighting crime. Even the anti-drug unit as you know, although they are specialized to do drugs, they are fighting crimes just like any other member of the department."
Keith Swift,
"So there will be increased presence on the streets?"
Jose Zetina,
"Yes we have been forced to reduce other units to complement those on the streets."
This evening, police confirmed that 17-year-old Shane Bennett of a Police Street address has been charged for the murder of Robert Flowers, the conch fritters vendor who was killed on Sunday night. Press officer G. Michael Reid says the police are not certain as to what the motive was but believe they have enough circumstantial evidence to take the case to court. According to our sources the two men may have been in a dispute over a counterfeit $100 bill.