Posted: Thursday, April 3, 2025. 10:33 am CST.
By Aaron Humes: Police will not let up in their efforts to reduce and, where possible, eliminate crime, according to Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs, who addressed the press following the first Computer Performance Statistics (COMPSTAT) meeting for 2025.
Back in January, the Belize Police Department faced scrutiny from the Opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) for alleged “cooking the books” in relation to Department statistics that reported only a slight increase of two murders for 2024 and a reduction in major crimes.
While the numbers continue to look relatively good, Musa told reporters on Wednesday that there is no cause for disillusionment at expecting better, or complacency for avoiding worse: “…we have to step up our efforts because last year, I can recall, the first quarter being a very difficult and challenging year for the police as was this year. And in similar fashion as we did last year, we will have to increase our efforts and certainly try to make better in the second quarter.”
Chester Williams, outgoing Commissioner of Police, reported that there were four fewer murders for the first quarter of 2025 compared to 2024 and major crime is down by seven percent, so his job is now done, even if the Department’s isn’t: “So I am happy that I am handing over to the incoming commissioner with a crime rate below last year’s figure. And that, for me is good. So moving forward, I just hope that the police department is going to be able to continue to function the way we have functioned over the past six plus years. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done, and the public depends heavily on the effectiveness of the police. And so making sure that the police remain effective is important.”
No official tallies have been forwarded to the press as of yet nor posted on the Belize Crime Observatory website, which has figures dating to November of 2024. We expect to have more on the murder count so far for 2025 in a future story.
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The post Police report reduction in major crimes and murders for first quarter of 2025 appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
Posted: Thursday, April 3, 2025. 10:33 am CST. By Aaron Humes: Police will not let up in their efforts to reduce and, where possible, eliminate crime,
The post Police report reduction in major crimes and murders for first quarter of 2025 appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
