Why Are Soldiers Patrolling Belize City?

Armed soldiers, police patrols and checkpoints are becoming a familiar sight across Belize City. So, is there a new security operation underway? Ministry of National Defense CEO Francis Usher says no. He insists there is no State of Emergency and describes the BDF presence as routine support for police. But the soldiers on the streets are only one part of the effort, with the Belize Coast Guard also working alongside other security agencies to keep communities safe.

 

Francis Usher, CEO, Ministry of National Defense

“We are here, the Belize Defense Force and the Belize Coast Guard, because if you go on the George Price Highway, you’ll see the Belize Coast Guard also supporting by in the evenings working that checkpoint. I believe that there are some Coast Guard support in other ways. I don’t want to get into the operational details but they’re, the Coast Guard and the BDF, are supporting in many different ways other than only being on the ground. But we’re here to support the police department. We’re here to support Belize in general, and if there is a crisis or a need for more manpower, then we’re ready and willing to support. “

 

Shane Williams

“How do you all select the soldiers that will be deployed on the streets? Because it’s different from the training they are used to.”

 

Francis Usher

“So we are – usually we have a rotation of infantry companies as well as the support companies that work at Price Barracks and we’ll have a rotation of soldiers, a complement of both for the deployments. Every deployment requires, even if you see twenty soldiers on the streets, it’s usually sixty or eighty that are required to keep up the tempo of that twenty on the street. Because you have some that are currently on the street, some that are waiting to go relieve those on the street and some that are resting because they are coming back on duty soon, and some that are on stand down. So it’s a, it’s an operational tempo that continues throughout. But like I said we’re ready and willing to support and we’re here to lend a helping hand to our sister agencies.”

 

But patrolling the streets at home has not always sat well with BDF soldiers. Some have argued that they train for military operations, not for dealing with civilians in local communities.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

Watch the full newscast here: