Posted: Friday, January 31, 2025. 5:49 pm CST.
By Aaron Humes: After a recent low of 87 murders were reported in 2023, the Police Department was disappointed that the official murder count for 2024 ended up slightly higher at 89.
But on Tuesday, former Minister of National Security and Attorney General Michael Peyrefitte charged that it should have been even higher, at 97 murders or a rate of 24 per 100,000 residents. He charged that incidents usually classified as murder were not being reported as such so that the figure could look gaudier.
Following the All Officers’ Conference on Wednesday in Belmopan, Commissioner of Police Chester Williams hit back, insisting, “There is no false information put out by the Department.” Addressing the discrepancy between two cases in San Pedro and Cayo District, he added that the San Pedro case of Matthew Moses has not been classified pending a decision from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), while the Cayo incident was charged as manslaughter which has a different legal definition. How Peyrefitte arrived at 97, he said, was beyond him to understand.
As for the murder rates, in only two instances during the UDP’s run from 2008 to 2020 did Belize finish below 30 murders per 100,000 residents – in 2013, with 29, and in 2020, with 26, the latter during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic and multiple states of emergency. In 2012, Belize finished with 43.4 murders per 100,000 and was consistently ranked among the top ten nations in the region in terms of murder reports.
“So even if he wants to put it at 24, it is still far better than what existed during the UDP’s 12 years in office,” Williams contended.
The Commissioner made sure to note that he was in law school for five years of the UDP administration and was “exiled” in 2008 and 2009. On his return, he was in charge in the Eastern Division, and just as rates were starting to go down, he was “exiled” again, to the Professional Standards Branch.
“I’m not going to say that I am the best, but I can say to you that since I became Commissioner of Police, I have worked tirelessly, and you know this, to guide my officers, work with the public with a view to reducing crime,” he concluded, adding that his relationship with Peyrefitte as Minister was good but that he needed to be “careful when you say things especially when you were already in a position to do differently or to do better.”
Minister of Home Affairs Kareem Musa meanwhile lambasted Peyrefitte and Leader of the Opposition Moses “Shyne” Barrow for seeming to want more mayhem: “I get the feeling like they’re the grim reapers of governance and politics. I’ve never seen two people pray out the lives of Belizean people than these people. They’re praying out the lives of Belizean people. The numbers show that we had 89 homicides, but they’re getting up there to complain that it should be [97]. [They] want more people dead in our country, like when they were in power, 145. That’s what they should be talking about. Same characters lining up who had no plans and I didn’t see Jules air any plans or solutions to crime, but these are the same characters who could not provide solutions for crime. Criticizing a difference of five, I think, numbers is just ridiculous.”
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The post ComPol Williams maintains police statistics are not “false;” Minister calls UDP “grim reapers” appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
Posted: Friday, January 31, 2025. 5:49 pm CST. By Aaron Humes: After a recent low of 87 murders were reported in 2023, the Police Department was
The post ComPol Williams maintains police statistics are not “false;” Minister calls UDP “grim reapers” appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
