Deadly Weekend Violence Prompts Police Crackdown

A deadly spate of violence gripped the nation over the weekend with more than half-a-dozen incidents that led to multiple fatalities. In the wake of these incidents, the brass of the Belize Police Department called a press conference earlier today to address the public and seek to allay fears. Acting Commissioner of Police, Bart Jones offered his condolences to families that lost loved ones because of the violent acts. He says it is something that the department cannot countenance, while committing to a police crackdown against the various actors. Police Commissioner Bart Jones is warning criminals that the law will come down hard. At the same time, he’s assuring the public that officers will respect the rights of law-abiding citizens. Still, he admits some people might feel inconvenienced as police ramp up operations to keep the streets safe. Here is more from Jones.

 

Bart Jones, Acting Commissioner of Police

“The last seventy-two hours or so we have seen a number of shooting and violent crimes in Belize City and other parts of the country. Firstly let me take this opportunity to send the department’s condolences to those who have lost loved ones to the violence over the past few days. I want to express the departments concerns to the many family or Belizeans who may have been or still shaken by the level of violence that occurred within their respective communities. This is something that the department cannot countenance and we will put decisive action to address this situation. As we are meeting now, we have commanders in the next room. We are meeting to strategize on how we are going to arrest this situation. We are going to see in the coming days targeted intelligence-led operation combined with our efforts with the Leadership Intervention Unit to try and mitigate or immediate some of the actions or the causes of some of these violence in the streets. The police will also be looking at the investigative files as it relates to the gang offenses to see if charges can be preferred against some of these gang leaders we believe are behind this senseless violence. The department will not stand to and allow citizen security to be further eroded and we will certainly, as I said, take decisive actions to address the situation. We, aforehand, want to beg on the public’s patience and support because some of our actions may to some degree impact on the lives of law-abiding citizens in terms of our checkpoints, in terms of our searches, but we will at best try to minimize the lessening effects of the non-participating public in this kind of acts of violence. To the criminals, we say that we will be decipher after you with maintaining the, within the confines of the law, of course. And so we want you to remember as well that these acts of violence does not also put your family at risk because the risk of retaliation. So if you think about taking up the gun, you have to remember as well that your families can be impacted by the violence in retaliation.”