Minister Mira Unsure Why Media Missed CompStat

Last week, the Belize Police Department held its first CompStat presentation of the year, a report that lays out crime statistics from 2025 and compares them to the year before, offering what’s meant to be a clearer picture of crime trends across the country. But this time around, there was something noticeably missing. Members of the media were not invited, leaving no opportunity to question or clarify the numbers presented. Today, we put that concern directly to the Minister of Home Affairs, Oscar Mira. His response? He says he’s not sure why the media was excluded.

 

Oscar Mira, Minister of Home Affairs

“ I do not know. That was my first compstat that I was invited as well by the commissioner of police. I didn’t know that they were not invited. I will ask the commissioner police why? I think it’s important that the media is invited and that they can go to the statistics that we have compiled for the year.”

 

 

Reporter

“This was the first time in years that the media hasn’t been invited. So you’re saying as a minister you weren’t aware that we were not given the invitation to come?”

 

Oscar Mira

“It was also my first time that I have been invited. As I have been at that ministry for past probably two months. So I was also invited and I went there. If I had known the media was not invited, I would’ve been the one to make sure that the Commissioner of Police invites you. “

 

Reporter

“So how do you feel about the numbers?”

 

Oscar Mira

“As the police department unfairly so is always judged by statistics. They’re always judged by the amount of robberies that happen, is always judged by the amount of murders that happen. What we cannot quantify is the amount of crime that the police department can prevent by doing certain operations, by doing certain patrols, which is, understandable. You  cannot count something that never happened. But I believe that, as you saw the numbers, I think we were one less murder. And we are also down in a major crime. There’s a lot more to do. I am aware that there’s a lot more that we can do. We have been working very hard in making sure that we solve most of those murders that happen. It is a priority for me whenever something happens, especially when it comes to murder, that the police department can have a thorough investigation that can lead to an arrest and that can lead to charges and ultimately for a conviction.”