Last week, the Belize Crime Observatory, which tracks crime statistics, hosted a 2-day virtual training workshop for journalists to introduce the idea of "data journalism."
The idea is that reporters can use data to strengthen their crime reporting. Participants were provided with different batches of data and present it in more consumable formats, where trends can be easily discovered.
And, within that exercise, the Belize Crime Observatory, with the help of the Kolbe Foundation's management, left a trail of breadcrumbs to a very detailed demographic study of the Central Prison's remand and convicted populations. Daniel Ortiz picked up the pieces for an interesting study on crime and punishment:
These are the original documents provided, and at a quick glance, they look like just a clutter of numbers and figures. But we reviewed them more closely, and a few trends started to emerge.
For example, as of the end of September 2021, there are 690 convicted inmates: both male and females. Out of that number, only 12 of them are females. Out of the 678 convicted males, 15 are spending time for attempted murder, while 76 have been convicted of murder. 73 are behind bars for manslaughter. 110 convicts are spending time for burglary or attempted burglary. 41 have been found guilty of robbery or attempted robbery. 48 are convicted drug traffickers, and 41 others are spending time on firearms or ammunition-related offenses. 45 have been convicted of theft or handling stolen goods. 44 entered the country illegally. 14 have been found guilty of rape or attempted rape. 28 are convicts serving time for the offense of wounding, and 40 are serving time for unlawful sexual intercourse.
Of the 76 inmates serving time for murder convictions, 3 are under between the ages of 18 to 25. 11 are between the ages of 26 and 30. For the age demographic of 31 to 35 years, there are 22 inmates. 14 inmates are between the ages of 36 and 40, and 13 are between the ages of 41 and 45.
For those convicted of manslaughter, 9 inmates are between the ages of 18 and 25. 20 are between the ages of 26 and 30, and 17 are between the ages of 30 and 35.
As viewers are aware, manslaughter could have been the primary charge that a defendant faced trial for. It is also one of the alternative verdicts to murder that a jury or judge alone could reach.
For the offense of burglary or attempted burglary, the number of inmates is the highest at 110. 17 convicts are between the ages of 18 and 25. 19 inmates in this category are between the ages of 26 and 30. 21 of the inmates are between the ages of 31 and 35, and 19 more are between the ages of 36 and 40.
Another interesting trend is that out of the 678 convicted males, 115 are between the ages of 18 and 25. 131 convicts are between the ages of 26 and 30. 125 of them are between the ages of 31 to 35. 94 are between the ages of 36 and 40, and 86 are between the ages of 41 and 45.
For the remand population, the info provided is just as data-rich with emerging trends. There are 357 persons on remand awaiting trial, and only 8 of them are women. All the rest are males, and these numbers may have gone up or down, depending on their eligibility for bail.
Another interesting trend is that out of the 349 men on remand, 173 of them are there for the offense of murder, which is an offense for which bail is not normally available. 70 of them are between the ages of 18 and 25! 40 more are between the ages of 26 and 30, and 24 are between the ages of 31 and 35. 6 are under the age of 18.
Comparing ages in all 349 remanded males, 12 of them are under 18. 127 of them are between the age of 18 to 25, and 73 are between the ages of 26 and 30.
For both the remand and convicted populations, there are statistics tracking by district, by the ethnicity they each identify themselves as, and by nationality. But, for the remand population, there are no details on the time spent in prison while they await trial.
These snapshots for both the remand and convicted populations were put together in early October 2021. So, in the last 2 months, the numbers have most likely fluctuated.
So, a few important takeaways from the prison statistics are that out of the 678 convicted males, 249 - or a little over a third - are within the age demographic that is universally accepted as the "youth" population.
Out of the 349 males on remand, 209 - or almost 60% - are within that same age range.
