And in a sunnier story Compol Williams was the guest on Sunup on 7 this morning.
The hosts asked him what are the specific security plans to police the various Easter hotspots across Belize:
Host
"So Easter Safety protocols, where will policing be happening, what are we expecting, specifically for places like Hopkins, Placencia, Caye Caulker, San Pedro."
Chester Williams - Commissioner of Police
"Certainly we are aware of all the different favored destinations for Easter, the peninsula, Hopkins, Seine Bight, Placencia, Caye Caullker, San Pedro and even the west the Cayo district are place of destination people normally go for the Easter. So, what we are doing is that we are beefing up our police presence in all of these areas we are deploying our specialized units to all of these destinations again with a view to make sure that we maintain operational presence and target those persons who we believe may want to take advantage and commit crime against those person who are trying to enjoy the Easter. Likewise, while we know that we cannot neglect policing the other parts of the country because while people leave go and celebrate Easter elsewhere, the leave their homes unattended and that also lends opportunity for burglaries to occur. So, we have to ensure that our policing strategy encompasses a holistic approach deal with those persons who are going to celebrate as well as those who stay home and those who leave their homes attended. I want to assure the Belizeans people that we will have our strong presence across the country. This is not a time for police officers to rest, you know that when holiday come, while the wider population celebrates, the police have to be working 2, 3 times harder and this is where we have always said that the job we do is a thankless one because despite the fact that we don't get to celebrate like ordinary people, the pressure is always on us. I don't drink and I have no sympathy for persons who drink and get drunk. Self induce drunkenness is no excuse for whatever you may do and if it is that you're drunk, don't expect the police to pamper you because like you said, people who are drunk their mindset is altered due to alcohol that they have consumed and they may not act rationale. To some extent, they are mentally impaired due to the alcohol, so the police with also have to approach you with certain degree of caution to ensure their own personal safety as well. So, if you want to drink, stay within your limits, know how much you can drink, when you feel like you're going, stop. If you're going to drive, don't drink, if you're going to drink, don't drive. The police will be on the highway in full force as well doing road policing and road policing encapsulates not just being with traffic offenses but every aspect of policing including looking at firearm trafficking, human trafficking, drug trafficking and those person who refer to as transient criminals who move from point a to point b to go and commit crime. So we have to me mindful of those persons as well as we conduct more policing. So, bare patience with us on the highways, you might take a little longer to get where you're going but we want to make sure you get where you're going safely and one of the ways we can do so is to ensure that we have our checkpoints in different parts of the country on the highways to slow you down when you are going to fast."
