Belize Police Commissioner Chester Williams says there are persons hell-bent on terrorizing their communities and he is not ruling out requesting a state of emergency (SOE) to deal with the upsurge in murders in Belize.
Williams said he has already directed the police to do “certain things in the different areas to see how we can quell the feud,” particularly among warring gangs.
The authorities have organized several sporting and other initiatives in response to gangs and Chester Williams said he will be meeting with the relevant minister to decide “what course of actions will be taken against those groups causing the flare-ups.”
Asked whether a state of emergency is being considered, the top cop replied “anything is on the table.
“I can tell you that the crowd from the Antelope Extension, I am sick and tired of them. The truth is they have not felt the wrath of the SOE and perhaps that is the reason they are behaving the way they are. The past three murders in the city have been committed by them. So, something drastically needs to be done for them to get the message.”
Williams said in the Antelope Extension Area, there are three different groups and “there is extremely high tension among them and as I have always said there are some of these young men that certainly don’t want anything good in life.
“We do a number of programs to try and work with them. We talk with them and do interventions with them. We do everything possible to try and get them to understand that the lifestyle they are living is not good for them, is not good for society.”
The police commissioner said it is impossible for police to control these areas.
“We just can’t police everybody. I can’t say we are going to tag police to every gang member. I don’t have the manpower. It is human beings and at the end of the day, while we do have police in the area, you would know that the criminals monitor the police. The police have to move around.”
CMC/
