The Belize government is moving ahead with the establishment of a gun and gang court with Home Affairs Minister, Kareem Musa, saying that the acts of gun violence that occurred over the last weekend ‘are unacceptable’.
‘First, I extend my sincere condolences to the families of those who lost their loved ones over the weekend. We grieve with you, and we are committed to holding those responsible accountable.
Home Affairs Minister, Kareen Musa
‘The events of this weekend reinforce what we already know. Belize needs a dedicated response to the crisis of gun and gang violence. That is why our government has advanced the amendment to create a specialized gun and gang court,’ Musa said.
He said that the court is designed to process gun-related and gang-related cases ‘swiftly, firmly, and within the law.
‘Once passed, we intend to increase the penalties for first-time offenders from five years to 10 years. And for second-time offenders, that penalty will extend from 15 to 20 years. The court will focus solely on these matters, removing them from an already overburdened magistracy,’ Musa said.
Police said among those killed over the last wekend were 25-year-old Gaston Barrow, who was killed in an ambush that left another man, Hance Card, seriously injured, while two women escaped unharmed. Forty-three-year-old Moses Almendarez was also gunned down and 34-year Keyon Cleland was stabbed during a dispute with a store owner
Acting Commissioner of Police, Bart Jones, told reporters that the preliminary investigations into the more than half a dozen shootings, including near a school, that led to multiple fatalities, were gang related.
Jones in offering his condolences to families that lost loved ones because of the violent acts, warned criminals that the law will come down hard and is assuring the public that officers will respect the rights of law-abiding citizens.
‘I want to express the departments concerns to the many family or Belizeans who may have been or still shaken by the level of violence that occurred within their respective communities. This is something that the department cannot countenance and we will put decisive action to address this situation,’ Jones told a news conference.
‘As we are meeting now, we have commanders in the next room. We are meeting to strategise on how we are going to arrest this situation. We are going to see in the coming days targeted intelligence-led operation combined with our efforts with the Leadership Intervention Unit to try and mitigate or immediate some of the actions or the causes of some of these violence in the streets.’
Jones said that the police will also be looking at the investigative files as it relates to the gang offenses to see if charges can be preferred against some of these gang leaders who law enforcement believe ‘are behind this senseless violence.
‘The department will not stand to and allow citizen security to be further eroded and we will certainly, as I said, take decisive actions to address the situation. We, aforehand, want to beg on the public’s patience and support because some of our actions may to some degree impact on the lives of law-abiding citizens in terms of our checkpoints, in terms of our searches, but we will at best try to minimize the lessening effects of the non-participating public in this kind of acts of violence.
‘To the criminals, we say that we will be decipher after you with maintaining the, within the confines of the law, of course. And so we want you to remember as well that these acts of violence does not also put your family at risk because the risk of retaliation. So if you think about taking up the gun, you have to remember as well that your families can be impacted by the violence in retaliation.’
But Jones said he does not think that time has come as yet for a sate of emergency (SoE) to be declared in Belize.
‘Well, the issue of SOE, while many may think that it is the, from the department, the department does not do SoE proclamations. And so we will continue to do what we are doing and improve where we can.
‘As it is often said, the greatest room is the room for improvement. So we’ll be improving where we can to address the situation. The matter of SOE, if and when that comes, then we will deal with that accordingly.’
Jones said that having spoken to the commanders and other stakeholders ‘I am firm of the view that we are not there yet in terms of an SOE. So we will try to see what we can do to arrest the situation’.