The statistics are out, and they say that 2007 had fewer crimes reported than 2006. Fewer burglaries, fewer robberies, fewer rapes, but not fewer murders. I looked into the numbers and behind the numbers today with the head of the eastern division where most of the crimes were reported.
ACP Allen Whylie, O.C. - Eastern Division
"We are seeing a shift in the Belizean criminal mentality. In the past there sue to be that respect for police officers, serving officers especially officers in uniforms and over the past year especially in the few months we have seen where some members of the criminal elements have actually stood up to the police and have fired shots at the police."
While in 2007 there was a decrease in major crimes such as burglary, robbery, theft, rape and carnal knowledge there was an increase in murders. A five percent increase that has recorded the most killings in the Belize District and the fewest in Toledo. The Cayo District ranked second in homicides.
And while there was an overall increase in homicides in the month of December there was a slight decrease overall. Overall the murders were largely the product of altercations and misunderstandings, or as they call it, old beef. Thirty nine of the 2007 murders were committed in Belize City one reason why the old capital continues to be a major concern for the police - and more concerning is that new offenders are very young:
ACP Allen Whylie,
"Majority of the crimes are committed by repeat persons and our records
show that but there have been times that we have been seeing new faces some young persons as young as ten years old."
Assistant Commissioner Whylie says economics and what he explains as acquisitiveness have contributed to the culture of crime and violence.
ACP Allen Whylie,
"In addition to the economics are that many young people they do not really want to better themselves in terms of going to school, getting a job. Everybody is in this frenzy of grabbing, grabbing, grabbing and getting things at any cost and I think that has impacted negatively in Belize and Belize City also since Belize City is the commercial and economic capital of the country."
The reported cases of rape declined. In 2007 there were thirty-nine reported cases compared to forty-four in 2006; that is a decrease of fourteen percent.
Robberies dropped to two percent. In 2006 there were 526 cases compared to 514 in 2007. Burglaries showed a decrease of 17 percent with 1,514 reported cases
in 2006 compared to 1,256 cases reported in 2007.
Last year there was also a sharp decrease in the number of firearms confiscated. In 2007 the police confiscated 130 firearms compared to 234 in 2006. There were a total of 75 firearms stolen in 2006 and 101 firearms in 2007. And while police point to a high rate of detection for their major crimes, there is always room for improvement.
ACP Allen Whylie,
"We have seen significant improvement because while there are some persons or some members of the community who will always be skeptical of n the police we have seen marked improvement across the spectrum. This year again
we would want to rekindle our professional working relationship with the judiciary to see how we can streamline the prosecution process and try to expedite cases via the quick trail we have had some attempts in the past but we did not meet with many successes but it is something that we will continue to hammer in terms of targeting those individuals who repeatedly commit crimes."
The next twelve months should be interesting as the police get ready to install closed circuit cameras in strategic locations considered to be the city's hotspots.
ACP Allen Whylie,
"That project is about to be kicked off. The equipment has been ordered, we have identified six locations that we will be starting because we need to start modestly because of the huge financial costs involved in these equipment but I am certain that the areas that we have selected based on the crime situation, the analysis we have done persons in those areas will see an significant increase in terms of their livelihood because of the fact that they will be able to come out. We will put a response mechanism in place that will allow the monitoring of these cameras from our control room and then we will have the response capability within these areas."
Which makes 2008 the year when big brother will be watching.
Marijuana seizures were also down.
