Nine Detained So Far Under New State of Emergency

Nine people are already in custody at the Kolbe Foundation, and armed patrols are on the streets after a State of Emergency (SOE) was declared on Friday across parts of Belize City and the several areas of the rural Belize District.

Commissioner of Police Dr Richard Rosado said the decision followed a security assessment and intelligence pointing to an “imminent danger to life and property.”

He said, “The decision was not made lightly… We believe it was absolutely necessary.” He confirmed that all nine detained are adults.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Bart Jones said the crackdown is targeted, not sweeping. “It will not be operated as a carte blanche wholesale detention of persons but based on intelligence, interviews, based on current investigations,” he said.

“Many of the persons currently detained are not only in relation to gang offences but are also suspects in some of the recent and earlier shooting incidents and murders. So it is more targeted and focused than we have done it before,” Jones added.

Under the emergency powers, gatherings of three or more people in declared areas are an offence, minors must be indoors by 8 p.m., and police can stop and search without a warrant.

Rosado assured law-abiding residents they have nothing to fear. “The SOE is targeted and specific to certain individuals and does not affect the law-abiding citizen in any way,” he said.