BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Nov. 14, 2019– The Belize Police Department has released the crime statistics for the period January to September 2019, and when the figures are compared to the same period last year, there is a noticeable decrease in major crimes.

At a press conference where the figures were released, Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams, told the media, however, that there were some serious incidents. The Commissioner made specific references to the triple murder on the George Price Highway, in June, and the 5 men who were murdered at sea, which also occurred in June.

The tally of murders for the period covered by the police’s figures indicates that there have been 19 less murders this year, when compared to the same period last year. So far there have been 97 murders this year. During the same period last year, there were 116 murders.

Robberies were also down this year by 10 percent. Last year 227 robberies were reported, compared to this year’s report of 203 robberies.

Burglaries also saw a decrease by 8 percent. There were 569 reported burglaries during the comparable period last year, but only 522 for this year.

Theft also saw a decline by some 22 percent. Last year there were 72 reports of theft, compared to this year’s 56.

There was a slight increase in the rape numbers, with this year’s report of 21 reported cases of rape, compared to last year, when there were only 16 cases of reported rapes.

Commissioner Williams also stressed the need for the Police Department to enhance its community police efforts to buttress the various police operations that are taking place in Belize City.