As part of the S.A.L.W. Fellowship Programme Caribbean Iteration 2025, fellows from 15 CARICOM countries gathered in Trinidad and Tobago to strengthen regional cooperation on Small Arms and Light Weapons control in late July to mid August.
The fellowship was convened by the United Nations Office for Disarmament in partnership with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research. It included a visit to the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force Camp Omega Memorial. Assistant Commissioner of Police Bart Jones represented Belize at the fellowship on Small Arms and Light Weapons control. ACP Jones shared his insights and experiences from this program which was held from July 28 to August 16.
Bart Jones, Assistant Commissioner of Police
"This fellowship was on small arms control, looking at stockpile management, tracing, marking, and as well looking at the control and management of ammunition. So it is firearm and ammunition. We had the opportunity to fellowship, or the fellowship comprised of persons, law enforcement, and policy persons from the Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, the Dominican Republic, Guyana, Dominica, and as well, of course, Trinidad and Tobago. We had the opportunity of visiting different areas in Trinidad and Tobago where we looked at their practices that they do in that jurisdiction on small arms management and control."
"We had the opportunity to get an experience of how stockpiles are destroyed because the idea is to have within our region the level of control in respect to stockpiles is preventing legally held stockpiles. That means, and when I say legally held, it means those that are held by civilians and as well as the police and military and government agencies, preventing them from getting into the hands of criminals and therefore avoiding unplanned explosions and violent crimes."
"The region, as we discussed in that fellowship, across the region and Belize is no example where we, 80% on an average, 80% of the murders are committed with firearms. So it was a situation that was timely as the region grapples with armed violence."
"And we also looked at armed violence not only from the perspective of murders, but also from the gender and youth perspective, looking at how arms and armed violence affect women and young persons, and the importance of having them in the discourse when policies and procedures are put in place, that they as primary stakeholders are also in the discussion."
"We also recognize that armed violence does not, it's not only a law enforcement issue, it impacts on health, it impacts on education, and other ambits of government as we discussed, we were able to, in group exercises, learn the best practices from our different region, the fellowship culminated with all fellows coming up with individual projects that we wish to see implemented in our respective jurisdiction."
As part of the training, Jones presented his ideas to implement a project involving the digital registration of firearms in Belize. If implemented, this project would include civilian as well as stockpiles held by the Government.
