Last year, Belize saw 87 murders - a low that hasn't been seen since 2005. The police department has been on a mission to ensure this year's numbers are even lower. And while there was a spate of violence earlier in the year, it has been unusually calm in this last half of the year. The ComPol said that's due for the most part to the work they've been putting in post-SOE.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"Again, we continue to do our best in fighting crime and making the people of this country safe. Like you rightly said, we have seen that the murder numbers are trending down even though we had a good year last year, 2024 so far is going well for us. While we do celebrate the accomplishment, I have to give thanks to those persons who are very instrumental to what we have been doing. At the forefront of that is Brother Nuri and Footy Gongora, two individuals who I have tasked to meet twice weekly with those persons who were under the SOE. You would know that one of the things that affected us was that when the SOE would normally be over, there is no follow up with the guys and so we find that very quickly they would be back doing the things that would have landed them in prison under the SOE and so what we did this time, we got the team of Brother Nuri and Footy Gongora and on occasions I would join them, I would meet with these guys twice weekly to see what are the issues that confront them and to provide some semblance of guidance and it's a continuation to what they did while they were in prison. As you know, as a part of the SOE, we had Nuri going into the prison twice a week to meet with them and we also had the prison administration doing the journey to freedom program with them while they were there and so now that they're out we just try to have that continuity working with them. And then we also have the LIU which continue to do what they can to provide some sense of employment for these young men in different areas where they reside. And then the efforts of the police, patrolling these areas, making sure that we enforce the law, particularly the quality of life offenses, preventing the loitering, the public drinking and so forth. All of these are things that are leading to what we're seeing now in the reduction of crime in the country."
But in some cases, like the killing of Matthew Moses, the incident has not been classified as murder. Moses' postmortem says that he was shot behind the head and in the back, which would certainly not suggest self defense. However, the ComPol says that the determination is up to the DPP's office.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"I would not be able to speak to that whenever we have these issues where a person raising self-defense in a fatal shooting or stabbing or beating, the file must go to the office of the DPP, and a rep from the DPP's office goes through the file and direct the police on what charge to be levied on the individual."
Courtney Menzies:
"Is there a classification Guillermo Martinez, he's the one who was found stabbed up in the river in Dangriga."
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"That's a murder case."
Courtney Menzies:
"Any motive or suspects as yet?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"At this time, no, we have not been able to come up with a motive or suspect for that."
