If you heard about a ministry having an open day it would probably be as interesting as watching paint dry but in a country where crime and punishment make headlines almost nightly, hearing that the Ministry Of Home Affairs is having an open day, actually sounds kind of interesting. Jomarie Lanza was there today and here are the highlights of the open day.
The Ministry of Home Affairs is more than just the police department: From Community policing to the LIU, Cybercrime Control and the K9 Unit, the public may not be familiar with the services they provide in all 6 districts.
And that's why for the first time, today in Belmopan the ministry hosted an open day where students and the public learned about all the affairs under the Ministry Of Home Affairs.
Ginee Neal, Staff Officer, Home affairs and New growth Industries
"And this open day is very vital for the ministry because it is significant and it impacts the different services that our ministry offers. As you know we have a host of the different departments that falls under the ministry of home affairs and today we have the Belize Police Department, and under the Belize Police Department, there are several different units so we have community policing, police out here we have the tourism police, we have A Tips and Trafficking, we have the different operations unit like K9 and so forth and this is very important for us so that we can engage not only with students but also with the educators and the wider community so that they are aware of the safety and security and the different initiatives that the ministry has to offer."
The Minister also interacted with some of the students out of the dozen schools that were invited.
Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs
"I'm very excited to see the elation and excitement by the students that are here today and the general public all of whom are invited to our ministry's first open, and which essentially we showcase all the units and departments of our ministry and remove the mystery many times there is mystery and many times there is fear of police officers and to show students that police officers are here to help, and are here to support them. So I think it's a very important activity that allows officers and allows different professionals. Students educate them on the various services that we have to offer."
So what services does the ministry offer? We spoke with the representatives from some of the booths on display and here's what we learned from the Policing Unit, the Anti Trafficking In Persons Unit and the Leadership Intervention Unit.
Hortence Hernández, Inspector of Police, Public Relations
"We have a total of 9 different units out here today and we have cyber crime. We have ATIPS which is anti trafficking in Persons, domestic violence unit, community policing, K-9 unit the tourism policing unit and several other units. The purpose of us being out here today is to tell people what we have to offer and how they can access what we have to offer. We often times see people need to access certain sources and services but they don't know where to go and this is what this open day is all about today."
Luis Peraza, Corporal of Police, ATIPS
"Well the scope of work that we do we have a mandate to investigate all suspected trafficking persons cases in the country. We do have a staff of 8 full time police officers attached to the unit to cover the entire country and that would include the Cayes and the islands as well."
Dominique Noralez, Chairlady, LIU
"So today we are teaching kids a bit about the work we do trying to tell them to stay away from the life of gangs and violence and of course today is a very comprehensive look at what the ministry does I think kids get a full run down from what the police does to even our administrative executives do so I think today is a bit of that comprehensive look that we have."
"These children are very lovely. They are super intelligent they are like I said very aware of what is happening in the country and we should never take children's ability to analyze what is happening around them lightly so that has been most exciting for me. My team of officers and my interns are here and are doing a great job so that has been very fulfilling for me to watch children because quite often I don't get to interact with children."
