It’s now official. 2008 was not nearly great for the Police Department. In fact, they say it was “challenging.”
If by “challenging”, one means having to solve 103 murders, 38 rapes, over 1,500 thefts, over 1,300 burglaries, over 500 robberies, increased reports of carnal knowledge, more guns on the streets, more drugs in the hands of Belizeans, but fewer fatalities on the roads, then we would have to agree.
There are, in fact, few surprises in the end-of-year report issued by the Police Department late Wednesday evening.
The Police Department formally announced at the top of the report that across Belize last year, 103 murders were reported, a 5.8% increase over 2007’s total of 97, and by all accounts, a national record.
For instance, it’s no shocker that Belize City, the Old Capital, might more accurately be referred to as “The COLD Capital” for recording the most murders of any police jurisdiction last year, with 45. That is an increase of 6 over 2007, which saw 39 murders recorded.
Increases were recorded in four other categories of major crimes – thefts, up 12.7%; robberies, up 3.4%, and burglaries, up 3.6%.
In the category of sex crimes, rapes were unchanged from 2007, with the same number – 38 – reported in 2008. However, because of “increased awareness generated, particularly by NGOs”, police report an increase of almost double the incidents of carnal knowledge, from 66 in 2007 to 98 in 2008.
Police are taking more marijuana off the streets, both in plant and seed form, but less processed marijuana, cocaine and crack. The comparative statistics reveal that in 2007, 483,369.4 lbs. of processed cannabis were confiscated, compared to 275,523.3 lbs in 2008, a decrease of 43%, but there was a significant increase in seeds discovered, from 114.9 lbs in 2007 to 100,891.7 lbs, a 99.6% increase.
In 2008, 50,050 cannabis plants were destroyed, compared to 27,873 in 2007, a 79.6% increase. There was a 50.7% decrease in cocaine seizure, from 32,698.7 grams in 2007 to 16,134.8 grams in 2008.
More firearms are being taken off the streets – 194 last year as opposed to 129 in 2007, but there are slightly more firearms on the streets – 107 firearms were stolen in 2008, as opposed to 94 the year before.
On the roads, fatal traffic accidents are down by 18% from 2007, and fatalities are also slightly down from 74 to 56, a decrease of 24%.
Belize’s estimated murder rate is 34.2 per 100,000 citizens, a rather high figure among countries in the region.
Turning back to Belize City, the Southside remains the epicenter of crime, with 38 murders committed there as opposed to 7 on the Northside. While the number of murders on the Southside has increased by 6 over 2007, the figure for the Northside remained stable.
By constituency, Lake Independence and Port Loyola recorded the most murders in 2008, with 13 and 12, respectively. By contrast, there were no murders reported in either Queen’s Square (Prime Minister Hon. Dean Barrow’s constituency) or Fort George (ex-Prime Minister Said Musa’s constituency).
Police say they were unable to determine the motive for 35 of the year’s murders, but 24 have been attributed to gang activity and 21 to personal misunderstandings (“beefs”).