As we have been reporting, October has been the saddest month - witness to 5 femicides - in acts of unthinkable cruelty.
The Special Envoy Rossana Briceno and others have called on the police to do more. But, according to violence expert Herbert Gayle - if the police are not properly trained, don't call them:
Dr. Herbert Gayle, Social Violence Anthropologist
"We need to re-train the police. I had three police officers, three female police officers doing a study one day on why men don't respond. Male police don't respond to these things. Because they themselves have been through it quietly, a lot of them."
"Remember that people who are damaged join teaching, nursing, and police. Yes, man, today we're talking the truth. And guidance counselors. Anywhere you see those four professions. Wink an eye and check."
"Large proportions of people who are harmed want to help others, right? But the point is when you are under pressure at your home and you're calling a police officer who has just been through it, because police officers have the worst domestic violence in the world, you don't know who you're calling."
"So sometimes they don't answer because they don't want to deal with it. And that's why I keep saying that every police service need to have more female police officers in the CSSB, community safety and security branch, that these are these things."
"There need to be specializations. We spoke about this in 2010. The Belize Police Service needs to have a strong specialized unit that once the phone goes, bing, they are there. And they can be there before it happens, where a man or a woman can call and say I'm under pressure."
"And there's somebody with at least a master's degree. You notice I'm stipulating that they're seriously trained in what is called a CSSB, community safety and security branch. Trained in social work, a first degree in social work, at least preferably a master's, who's properly paid."
"Because Belize Police don't like to talk about pay. Who can respond and have some training to know how to deal with this matter? It can't be waiting until they're burned on the whole house with everybody to respond?"
We'll have a little more from Dr Gayle tomorrow.
