For any Belizean with a heart watching the television news on Tuesday night, it was just simply (but excruciatingly) painful. There was the photo of 11-year-old Daniel Matura. His young, tender, innocent life was snuffed out of him by a sick young man with a stupid gun.

For us as Belizeans, it is particularly painful because we see blood on the news every night. Sometimes it’s adults. On a few occasions it’s a woman. Most of the time it is some young black man.

And then at times it’s a child. Like the news said – 5 children in the last 20 months. When that happens it is even more difficult to watch. Each of us parents knows what we put into each child. From birth and changing pampers, clothing them every day, dealing with their health, mental and emotional needs. Disciplining them, teaching them, schooling them, nurturing them, encouraging them, and at times looking at them growing.

It’s extremely difficult for a parent to really explain how they feel when, say, high school graduation day comes for their son and daughter. Because we sit quietly and think – “Look how much time, sweat, effort and dedication we put in to bring this child to this point so that he/she can go out and work and have a chance at a fulfilling life”.

How then, does it feel, when your beautiful young child (and no parent can be blamed for thinking his child is beautiful) is cut down by a senseless act committed by our own fellow human being. Each of us can try to imagine it for our own child. Yet nothing can describe the impact on a mother or father. It is not too melodramatic to state that it happens that when a child (or even a young man) dies, a part of his mother or loving father dies as well.

I know of cases in which this has happened (indeed in my own wider family). The quiet anguish of Lara Ahmad (principal of Sister Clara Mohammed) as she spoke of Daniel on the TV was so evident. And she spoke of how the children feel overwhelmed. Obviously, the teachers are also overwhelmed.

A peace march was held this morning. There have been peace marches before, even going back for years. And the killings have continued. And there will be more killings after this. Indeed, the fact is our people are overwhelmed by this crime situation.

The fact is that we as a people need to put this crime situation in perspective. In my opinion, it is the irrefutable position that crime is the number one problem in Belize and has been that for many years.

And we need to address it as a Number One Problem. As Belizeans we are going to experience this pain for many years, even if good, effective programmes are formulated and implemented. Because all that’s needed for wanton murder is a senseless (frequently young) misguided mind and a gun.

The BDF and police can do some containment, but their capacity is severely limited. A man who wants to kill simply has to wait until they pass and are out of sight. To change crime, we have to change our society. And it’s not rocket science, but it is science, system, analysis, programs, will and initiatives.

And it must be through “People Power”. Whether and to what extent and how effective we will be in the fight against crime is directly dependent on how many of our people will be involved in the fight against crime. That there is a sizable section of our people who can be mobilized for national issues is all too evident in the Ninth Amendment rallies and the votes against offshore drilling.

OAS observers have given Belize high marks for participatory democracy with a national turnout average of 73%. Our people can be mobilized. We cannot be overwhelmed. We cannot feel overwhelmed. Crime in Belize (as elsewhere) is rooted in causes, some of them historical and cultural, which inevitably would have led to an environment of crime. How we fight against it is a test of our mettle as a people.

The first thing we need to do is to remove from within us that same sense of being overwhelmed and to put behind us the “fear”. We have to confront it boldly, as well as intelligently.

And much work has already been done in formulating the way forward on crime. I have been in some way involved in programmes against crime since 1991, and the “Restore Belize Strategic Plan 2011” is, in my opinion, the clearest and most comprehensive road map for the fight against crime that has been produced.

This plan draws from initiatives and programs which were formulated under both UDP and PUP governments. It also draws from a number of studies which precede the report. It collates all of these studies into one central plan. There is also the report on “Male Social Participation and Violence in Urban Belize” by Herbert Gayle, Nelma Mortis (and others) that gives insight into the local conditions underpinning the oscillating (but increasing) wave of violence in Belize.

It is imperative that we (as a people) must first understand the crime problem, particularly in Belize, its roots, its causes and then the roadmap to eventual substantial reduction in crime. The report by Gayle and Mortis will go a very long way in making our people understand the problem. It makes interesting reading in any event, even though there are parts that are technical.

The Restore Belize plan is also technical in parts. But the essential concepts can be understood and learnt. I am saying that these two documents are extremely important sources and educational documents for our people in the fight against crime, and should be required reading for our teachers, students, social scientists, social commentators, media, and as many in our society as practically possible.

I think that it is so important to appreciate that our crime problem is way beyond party politics. This is not to say that politics does not in itself impact on the problem, but in the fight against crime, this is one place where (to put it simply) the UDP and PUP will have to cooperate.

Prime Minister Dean Barrow recently convened a meeting of various community sectors and it included a strong representative team from the PUP. There was an excellent spirit of communication at that meeting, and the initiative was pivotally embraced by the PUP leader, Francis Fonseca.

Another pivotal issue in the fight against crime must be relations between the police and the community. The police at times take a beating in the press and, without pre-judging, it may be that on occasions this is deserved.

But in essence, the Police Department is such a critical component in the fight against crime. There are many police officers who are very devoted to their duties and do so at great personal risk. Whilst it is clear that the Police Department itself needs to address its own challenges to become more effective, the fact is that the Police Department is a necessary partner with the people in the fight against crime, and it has to be a symbiotic relationship (you help me, I help you).

I wrote this because I was moved (again) by the death of a child. And there are so many cases where we just simply cannot turn back the clock, and the tragedy is permanent. It’s just a few points, but I do hope that as a people, we will be (and know that we are) on a clear, resolute road to the ultimate effective reduction of crime – and the thing is that, in its barest form, crime is inversely proportionate to “quality of life,” and thus, the reduction of crime will inevitably enhance quality of life and irresistibly, the enhancement of “quality of life” for our people in all sectors will inevitably reduce crime.