Belizean Families Feel the Full Weight of Emergency Powers
The State of Emergency may be slowing gang activity, but families living inside the affected communities say it is also disrupting their homes, livelihoods and daily routines. Police now have wider authority to conduct searches, restrict gatherings and monitor persons of interest. Twenty-four people have also been ordered to remain at home under confinement orders. Tonight, Shane Williams examines what life under the SOE looks like for residents caught between public safety and sweeping police powers.
Shane Willliams, Reporting
For police, the State of Emergency is a tool to contain gang violence. But for families living under increased scrutiny, it can mean repeated searches, disrupted work and little privacy inside their own homes. One Fairweather Street resident says police repeatedly visited the family’s home while relatives were mourning a recent death. The resident claims the encounters felt more like harassment than protection.
Voice of: Fairweather Street Resident
Voice of: Fairweather Street Resident
“Honestly it the get worse because we done the deal with fi we own thing, ’cause we the deal with fu we mourning. We come from a funeral Saturday and they come harass we Saturday evening. By Sunday morning, they harass we again. Sunday night, harass again. Like, it ridiculous. They never come this morning, right? They never come this morning, ’cause I tell them I wa call the media ’cause I tired of it. Every time we the go through mourning, try left we make we mourn and relax cause when we mi need them, they never deh bout. They da no kind of security for me. And when they the pass the want the grin and the tell we lotta simpleness.”
The SOE also gives Minister of National Security Michel Chebat authority to issue confinement orders against people considered a threat to public safety. Police confirm that twenty-four such orders have been issued. Those affected must remain at home for a specified period, with limited exceptions for urgent or necessary matters
Stacy Smith
ASP Stacy Smith, Staff Officer
“I can confirm that twenty-four confinement orders have been issued, which essentially requires persons who are the subject of those orders to remain at their place of residence for a particular period of time with due allowance and being made for them to handle matters of necessity and urgency.”
Those restrictions do not affect only the people named in the orders. When someone cannot leave home to work, an entire household may lose its income. Residents say that is especially difficult for families depending on informal work, including fishing, car washing and other daily jobs.
Voice of: Fairweather Street Resident
“When it comes to state of emergency, they need fu understand because the policeman, they know who really do what they the do. So they have to stop the pick up innocent people and take them from their people because then the pickney de out ya. Yo the tek weh bread from outta people pickney mouth. Yo understand? But they no care. They no give a F. You understand?”
The restrictions also extend beyond individual homes. The SOE prohibits public gatherings, raising questions about how ongoing Garifuna celebrations will proceed in affected communities. Police say the main event is under review, but normal activities cannot continue unchanged while the emergency measures remain in effect.
ASP Stacy Smith
“Certainly, it is a matter that is being reviewed and when that day comes, best believe that well in advance the general public will be apprised as to what would be police’s posture in relation to those activities.”
Shane Williams
“But we know that the celebration is more than just what happens on the eighteenth night. In terms of drumming and community events leading up to that. How soon can the public be informed of special provisions for mass gatherings for the celebration?”
ASP Stacy Smith
“I think the long and short of it is that we have to recognize that we are under a state of emergency and the status quo, whilst we would want it to remain, it cannot be another day around the town. So the primary consideration would be for the main event, but as I said, the media will be advised so that the general public could be so advised.”
The State of Emergency may give police room to respond quickly to violent crime, but it also places entire communities under tighter control. For families living with confinement orders, repeated police visits and limits on public gatherings, the impact extends far beyond the people police identify as gang members. Shane Williams for News Five.
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