But even after the change, ACP Gillett will still have a major hand in helping to reduce crime, primarily in the city. August has been relatively peaceful, but that might be mostly due to the state of emergency that has recently ended. Minister Kareem Musa called it a success and explained today that while it isn't his favorite tool to use, it's one that can be effective in extreme circumstances.
Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs
"In the state of emergency, we are happy to report there was not a single murder in terms of any gang related murders in Belize City and so the state of emergency did serve its purpose for that 30 day period, it did serve as a cooling off period, we had a lot of intervention by the LIU and the police department with those individuals at prison, we are hoping that they can maintain the peace, like I always say, we do not resort to a state of emergency as our first option but at the same time we have to recognize that we must save lives. That at the end of the day is our responsibility in the police department is to save lives so if we realize there is a series of killings taking place again and it will only continue, then we will not hesitate to once again impose the state of emergency but that is not the solution, that is not the long term solution, we're putting in place thing like free education, we have to keep our children in school, by all means that is the priority, all the way up to sixth form if possible, that is the long term objective so we're dealing with a situation that we inherited but at the same time we're tackling not just from an education standpoint but with sports as well, with opportunities as well, and also with stiffer penalties, greater patrols from the police department to ensure that we do not have these flare ups again."
