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Friday, March 29, 2024

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Belize Police get into Internet Technology

EducationBelize Police get into Internet Technology
Today, the Belize Police Department unveiled its new and improved presence on the World Wide Web. It is a great step in the direction of “E-Government,” where governments around the world try to provide more service to its citizenry. The new site promises to offer better service more efficiently and effectively to Belizeans and non-Belizeans alike, whether you reside here or not. The site is www.belizepolice.bz.
 
This new site is not to be confused with the pre-existing intranet that the department has been using for sometime now. That internal server is not accessible to the public, but this new site is and offers some great services.
 
Here is some of what it offers: an organizational chart of the entire department, formation map of which officers are where, police ranks, a biography of the commissioner, and a history of the department. The police ranks link shows the pecking order of the system, and what the uniform is for the individual ranks. There is a lot of useful information in that area. This is great for students doing research, but what of services?
 
Some of the services it offers in the “download” section are: fire arm license application form, police recruit form, and a complaint form where one can file a complaint against a police officer. You no longer have to come in from the rural areas to pick up a form for a gun license or a police enlistment form. That’s a great start. As for the complaint form, you can file a compliant online at no risk for additional repercussion from anyone. You’ll have to navigate around the site a bit, and it does require a bit of internet savvy…and, that’s what kids are for if you can’t do it yourself.
 
You can also read all the crime reports that the Police Press Officer, Mr. Clement Palacio, shares with the media a couple times a day or so. The general public now has access to the police reports prepared primarily for the media.
 
You can now file a police report online. This is terrific for my friends in remote parts of Belize and the elderly. Had a friend who recently had her very expensive outboard machine stolen and she had much logistical difficulty filing the required police report. This feature is a welcomed addition. I suspect police will see a jump in police reports initially, because so much crime goes unreported. The existing difficulties victims perceive with going over to the station to file the report result in a bit of underreported criminal activity, especially theft and reports of suspicious activity.
 
There are a total of seventeen persons in the Police Internet Technology Unit (PITU), which is headed by Inspector Mario Alcoser. Ms Inaldi Cardona is content manager and the local IT guru Harry Noble is the consultant with the project.   BPD has invested quite a bit of resources (human and monetary) in the effort, but the potential of receiving great value for money is awesome. The actual money invested is minimal given the great service it promises to provide the public, says Noble, and he should know.
 
Noble expounded on the shoestring nature of the department’s budget: “We use open source software which comes at no cost to the department, we used a refurbished server and items we could patch up… and contracted out the hosting services because it was cheaper and more efficient”.
 
As with any website of this size, there are aspects of it that is still under construction, and it comes with a few glitches, but all in all, it delivers much-needed service to the community.

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