Crime is down, but murders are up!

_{Photo: Police Chief Chester Williams}

By Charles Gladden

Belmopan, Wednesday, July 3, 2024

In 2023, Belize saw a decrease in major crime, with 88 murders occurring throughout the year; however, as of the time of writing, the murder death toll has reached 58 in mid-2024.

On Wednesday, July 3, the Belize Police Department presented its computerized statistics or CompStat (for short), data compiled by the department to measure crime trends and get a closer look at the amount of crime occurring in specific areas of the country.

During a presentation at the Belmopan University auditorium in Belize for senior police officers from across the country, data from the second quarter of this year (April to June) highlighted that major crimes were down 22 percent from January to June, but the total number of murders was much higher than the same period last year.

“Crime overall is down 22 percent this year as of the end of the second quarter. But what concerns me is the increase in murders. That’s an increase of 13 murders compared to the same period last year. There were 45 murders at the same time last year and 58 murders at the end of the second quarter this year, which is way too high,” said Police Chief Chester Williams.

Although this year’s murder count exceeds 2023’s figures, ComPol remains optimistic, noting that previous years saw higher murder counts at this time.

“If we compare this year’s figures to previous years (excluding last year), we will see that the figures have gone down; but we are measuring (and) using last year as the yardstick. So, the commanders will be responsible for looking at their respective crime-fighting strategies and see what we can do to deal with the problems affecting their respective areas,” he noted.

According to ComPol Williams, the eastern region, which includes Belize City, remains the epicenter of most crime, with gang-related murders occurring mainly in the southern part of the city. In addition, the villages of Belize District saw 10 murders.

The second highest number of murders is in the Kayo region (Western region), which has seen 14 murders so far this year, compared to less than 10 murders in the middle of last year. Notably, the lowest number of murders is in the North and South regions.

Interior Minister Kareem Musa also met with the media during the quarterly COMPSTATS launch and noted that he was not satisfied.

“That’s comparable to the crime rates of 2022 and 2021, but we’re not going to rest on our laurels. We want homicides to continue their downward trend, just like the other major crimes – robbery, theft and burglary. Those crimes are all going down, and we want to keep the homicide rate in check like we did last year,” he said.

Currently, Roaring Creek and Cotton Tree Village in the southern part of Belize City, Cayo District, have been placed under a 90-day State of Emergency (SOE) due to the frequent violence.

Minister Moussa predicted that crime numbers will drop in the coming weeks as criminals are locked up during the state of emergency. While the SOE may be a temporary solution to a larger problem at hand, he explained that now is the time to discuss what to do next and how to find a more permanent solution.

“I don’t think the state of emergency is necessarily designed for this type of gang intervention. So, instead of using the state of emergency, we can start talking about amending legislation, or even amending the constitution, to provide for gang detention periods. Because there is a small minority of young people who persist in this criminal activity; they don’t want to change. I know the majority of them do want to change; but that small minority will continue to cause chaos, so we will continue to keep the pressure on,” Minister Moussa said.

“… In terms of changing the law, that is one aspect; we can look at implementing different mechanisms such as gang detention periods. Also, we will be looking at changing the law on gangs and gun violence in the next three months; so that the maximum penalty for possession of a firearm is five years in prison. We hope to increase that penalty again through consultations with all stakeholders (magistrates, judges (and) the DPP office) to see how the Firearms Act can be improved and the penalties for illegal firearms increased,” he further mentioned.

As mentioned before, 2023 marks the first time in a long time that the number of murders has reached double digits, as previous years have ended the year with murder totals in triple digits, with 2020 having 103 murders, 2021 (the highest) having 125, and 2022 having 113.