PM Briceño: “The Police Know Who Most of These Gang Leaders Are”

Prime Minister John Briceño says the police know who most of Belize’s gang leaders are, and it’s time to go after them.

He said so in an address on crime, after speaking by Zoom with National Security Minister Michel Chebat. Chebat briefed him on recent events such as the implementation of the SOE and on what he and the police plan to do to help people feel safer. Some of those plans still have to go through Cabinet, Briceño said.

“The police know who most of these gang leaders are, and it is time that we go after them and get them off the streets to ensure that our citizens can live safer lives.”

Briceño says fixing crime is up to everybody: government, political parties, the private and public sectors, NGOs and families. Parents got the most pointed message.

“For too long I’ve been saying that as families we have not been disciplined enough with our children to keep them off the streets.”

Briceño also pointed to young people with nothing to do. Those already in gangs should be pulled out and put into special programmes, he said, where they can pick up discipline and a trade, along with an apprenticeship. “I’ve always said the best social programme a government can have is to give you a job.”

That, he said, is what the government is trying to do. “This situation is one that we must face together.”

The address follows the state of emergency that took effect on November 1 in parts of Belize City, Ladyville, Cotton Tree and Unitedville. Chebat has also outlined a Second Chance Program for young people at risk.