On Tuesday, May 11, the Government of Belize issued a Cabinet release declaring, “the crime situation in Belize has reached crisis proportions,” and promised to unveil a full-fledged plan to target this crisis as well as the lack of confidence in the Police Department today, Wednesday, June 2.
Prime Minister Dean Barrow fulfilled the promise with the unveiling today of a plan dubbed RESTORE Belize – RESTORE being an acronym for Re-Establish Security Through Outreach Rehabilitation and Education. This plan is primarily a Belize City-based initiative, since the Old Capital has turned out to be the breeding ground for crime and violence.
“We all have to come together. We all have to do this thing together,” said Barrow. “There is an energy, a willingness to participate on the part of the stakeholder groups – a commitment, an energy, and as well a willingness, as they have made it clear, to see the plan work and to hold our feet to the flame – that is, the feet of the government personalities, if there is any faltering in will that they, the private sector and community organization stakeholders, would ever perceive.”
Who will run the show?
On the previous day, Tuesday, June 1, Barrow, in a much publicized Cabinet shake-up, took the portfolio of Police away from former National Security Minister, Carlos Perdomo, leaving him only with Defence; while he appointed a new Minister of Police and Public Security in the person of Doug Singh, his party chairman and Leader of Government Business in the Senate.
Then today, Barrow announced that he will chair a ministerial council in charge of RESTORE Belize, and that the project implementation unit will be under his office, the Office of the Prime Minister – making it directly answerable to him.
The new unit under Barrow’s office is to be headed by Mary Vasquez, the lead consultant for the working committee set up to draft the plan unveiled today. Vasquez, who will get the position of Chief Executive Officer, is the daughter of Nestor Vasquez, BTL’s executive chairman, who was also present for today’s unveiling.
(Of note is that under the previous administration of the UDP, which ended in 1998, Barrow was the Minister of National Security and Perdomo was his CEO, according to media records we have browsed.)
Spreading the responsibility
The RESTORE Belize Council of ministers will include Singh (Police), Perdomo (Defence), Faber (Education and Youth), Pablo Marin (Health), Eden Martinez (Human Development), Gabriel Martinez (Labor), and John Saldivar (Sports). The formerly appointed inter-ministerial council is to become defunct once this council comes on-stream.
Additionally, the Government will set up the RESTORE Belize Steering Committee made up of the CEO’s of those ministries and the chairman of the Crime Control Council, Michael Young, as well as social partners, which, the Prime Minister said, would oversee the implementation of the work.
Safe Zones – “the showpiece”
What exactly is the nature of the work to be done under RESTORE Belize? Despite the unveiling today, the broader details have still not been fully explained. The project to establish 2 pilot Safe Zones on the Southside of Belize City, which the Prime Minister says is his favorite aspect of the plan – “the show piece,” as he called it, has still not been fleshed out to the point where Government has decided exactly what areas will be targeted.
A very high-ranking police source told us following the launch that the electoral division within the City with the greatest need for crime-fighting intervention is Collet. He also explained that whereas police implemented a social initiative by putting a community center in the Yarborough Area, Port Loyola, the crime problem there continued because people from outside that community were going into Yarborough to commit the crimes. Therefore, there is much curiosity over exactly what communities GOB will target for the installation of Safe Zones, and how they will work, in reality.
In the implementation of the program, the RESTORE Belize Council will network with 6 sub-committees, Barrow explained. Among them will be a subcommittee for Police Department Reform, Infrastructure Aesthetics, Safe Zones, Legislative Reform, and Communications.
The road ahead
After the RESTORE Belize launch today, the next steps are to establish and launch the Program Coordination Unit and convene meetings of the operational sub-committees.
The Unit should be in place by the end of June, around which time the Government said it will push the “I am Belize” public campaign, to help restore public confidence, with the participation of the Belize Tourism Board and the National Institute of Culture and History. By August, the first safe zones should be established.
The Government is looking for international funding to put the plan into effect. It has reportedly gotten a US$5 million commitment from the Inter-American Development Bank, while it seeks further funding from the Caribbean Development Bank, the World Bank and UN Agencies.
Crooks, Burns and Jaguar
The Prime Minister also said today that he wants to speed up the implementation of the recommendations of Harold Crooks (a former Jamaican police chief recently apprehended in his home country on child molestation allegations). Barrow said that the Government also wants to bring in at least one additional expert.
Announcing another new appointment, Barrow said that ex-cop of Boston, USA, John Burns, Jr., a Belizean who had migrated to the US as a youth and became a commander in that jurisdiction, has been asked to head the Gang Suppression Unit – which will be the new name of the Anti-Gang Unit inside the Police Department. According to Barrow, Burns is expected to be in Belize for an initial period of two weeks in July.
Two weeks ago, Operation Jaguar, a joint operation of Police, Belize Defence Force and the Coast Guard, reportedly launched to suppress crime on Southside Belize, was implemented and remains in effect. Barrow said they undertook that program because “I thought that we needed to show some muscle.”
“Quality of life crimes…”?
He also spoke of implementing efforts to restore good community values; violence intervention programs for high-risk youths, and judicial reform.
There has to be aggressive targeting of “quality of life crimes…” which contribute to social disorder, said Barrow, listing off petty theft, vandalism, littering and proper disposal of garbage, loitering, and traffic offences as examples.
He told the gathering that a connection has been found “on the basis of study and empirical evidence” between these so-called “quality of life crimes” and the larger disorders.
Low confidence in police
How is RESTORE Belize going to address the loss of confidence in the Police? To this question, Barrow responded that, “A huge part of the initiative is the reform of that Department with a view to making it more effective on an approach that will deal firstly with trying to root out corruption and indiscipline in the Department.”
He noted that “… the core function of the Police, which is to make people feel safer because they will be safer – that core function needs to be discharged more effectively.”
The Prime Minister also previewed that, as a part of the reform, a new entity, and possibly a civilian body, should be established to address cases of Police impropriety and abuses against members of the public.
While the majority of Police, Barrow noted, are hardworking, honest, dedicated Belizeans who put their lives on the line, he knows “…there is a serious problem with some officers in the Police Department,” and his administration “…will never be able to convince the public that we are serious about any plan, except that plan includes measures to deal with whatever corruption is within the Police Department.”
Seeking Opposition support
So far, the Opposition People’s United Party has not issued a statement on RESTORE Belize. According to Barrow, he is seeking to have bipartisan support for the plan, and has asked for a meeting with Opposition Leader Johnny Briceño next Wednesday.