We reported it last night and today the Ministry of Home Affairs made it official that Gerald Westby will be the next commissioner of police.
According to a government release, Westby will become Belize's top cop on April 25th of next year. On April 26th, the current commissioner Jose Carmen Zetina will move over to head the immigration department. Other major changes in the high command will include assistant commissioner of police Maureen Leslie ascending to the re-created post of deputy commissioner and assuming the apparently administrative task of commander, management and services. Her current post as head of eastern division will be taken up by a suddenly revived senior superintendent Crispin Jeffries who becomes assistant commissioner of police. Assistant commissioner Bernard Lino will, as we reported, become a regional law enforcement liasion officer. He will work on issues of border security and recovery of stolen vehicles within the framework of the Central American Integration System (SICA).
Other changes at the top of the PD will see senior superintendent Eduardo Wade become the commander of operations while superintendent Mario Vernon will be leaving Orange Walk to head the national crimes investigations branch. All these changes become effective during January and they will be, according to the release, smoothed over during a 3-month transition period during which Westby and Zetina will work together.
And though it's not under the Ministry of Home Affairs, today's release announced that Brigadier General Cedric Borland will hang up his hat as commandant on February 14th for the post of project manager at the soon to be created national coast guard service. Borland confirmed to 7NEWS today that he will be replaced by his deputy, Colonel Lloyd Gillet.
And in immigration, the release notes that current police commissioner Zetina will replace the current acting immigration director Gareth Murillo. Murillo becomes Zetina's deputy with emphasis on implementation of the new machine-readable passports.