Dear Editor,
If you ask any Belizean citizen in society at large right now what is the single most important issue of concern for our country right now, the resounding answer you will get is probably CRIME! Certainly issues such as corruption, the economy, tourism, etc. will probably all deserve a fitting place at the top; however when the people of a nation no longer feel safe in the streets and worst, in their homes, then it is clear that the issue of crime needs immediate attention.
Operation Restore Belize, while it started with a bang (and a catchy tune just in time for September celebrations, our most patriotic time as a nation), has failed so far to yield the results that the populace has been crying for.
Additionally, the unapologetic and unbiased nature of the rash of murders would suggest that this is no longer merely just “a Southside thing,” as the recent murder of a respected attorney and his wife in their family home would suggest.
Clearly the blanket is being cast all over the city, where the populace seems to have lost not only respect for the rule of law, but also faith in the current system of leadership within the law enforcement services, Police Department, and justice system.
Given that one of the major challenges facing the effective policing of the city and, by extension, the nation, is that we live in a system that is plagued by endemic corruption, perhaps the time has come for us to start giving meaningful consideration to “importing” foreign personnel to lead and head our Police Department.
Foreign help would be “less” likely to tolerate or fall prey to acts of corruption since they would be “unknown” personalities, unlike those who are merely promoted from within the ranks of a vastly corrupt system.
This is no disrespect to the current leadership of the department, many of whom worked their ways up the totem pole and endured countless hours of potentially life threatening patrols in the city streets, but we need look no further than our Caribbean brethren to see that they too have resorted to this course of action.
Islands like Jamaica and Trinidad, both of whom have exponentially higher crime rates than our Belize, have similarly moved to hiring foreign Police Commissioners and Deputy Commissioners.
Additionally, more resources need to be committed to developing local expertise in policing. Aside from Asst. Superintendent Aragon, who has advanced (tertiary level) training in criminology, I think, many of the top brass (while having countless and irreplaceable experience), many of them have only ever been exposed to training courses here and there and not formalized special training.
Hopefully the call for the importation of foreign leadership within the Police Department is not considered an attack against the powers that be; however we have reached a point in the crime situation that EVERY option now needs to be given consideration as a possible solution.
Kind regards,
Damian Gough