Expert Says Locking Up the Mentally Ill Isn’t the Solution

Concerns about mental health care and public safety have resurfaced after the arrest of a man believed to be mentally ill in connection with two violent, unprovoked attacks on women in Belize City.

Surveillance footage shows the man knocking one woman unconscious near the Michael Finnegan Market on Christmas Eve and later assaulting another woman along Orange Street.

With limited support systems, many people living with untreated psychiatric conditions are left to roam the streets, putting themselves and others at risk.

Kathy Esquivel, founder of the Mental Health Association of Belize, says the country’s system is not equipped to respond effectively in acute situations. “Only the police have the authority to pick people up,” she explained. “Threatening that person is probably the worst thing you can do because they’re already feeling paranoid… And unfortunately, sometimes the police end up shooting ’cause they don’t know.”

While police now receive basic training on mental health, Esquivel noted they are not expected to become experts in psychiatry. The bigger challenge, she said, is what happens after someone is detained.

The Association is pushing for a special forensic unit that could briefly hold individuals, stabilise them, and then decide on appropriate care or action.“I know a lot of people just want to lock people up and throw away the key. Apart from not being a very humane answer, it’s a very expensive answer,” she said.

“Most of them are not a danger to others, and they face a lot of danger. They’re beaten up. They’re mistreated. So it goes both ways.” Esquivel added that Belize needs and is already looking at a legislative framework that would allow authorities to intervene before someone commits a crime.