Minister of Home Affairs prepares to take the Belize Police Department to the next level

By BBN Staff: Today, newly-appointed Minister of Home Affairs Kareem Musa, who is the minister responsible for the Belize Police Department, spoke on several upgrades coming to the department, in an overall plan to increase citizen security.

Musa, speaking at a media briefing today alongside Commissioner of Police Chester Williams, said that increasing the number of police officers, and additional training for officers particularly with respect to prosecutions, and increased capacity of the National Forensic Science Service are all high on the priority list for the new Government of Belize.

“It might not be overnight, but certainly in the coming years we want to take it (the size of the department) to 3,000 as an initial step and thereafter, we will take it to 4,000,” Musa said.

Musa, a career attorney, also said that low conviction rates are closely linked to the level of training officers have a point which is especially emphasized when the accused person has senior legal counsel.

“It is not fair that when you go to the Magistrate’s Court there is a prosecutor who is not trained in law going up against the likes of a Dickie Bradley,” Musa added.

He went on to say that he will be working with Williams, who is also an attorney at law, on addressing deficiencies within the realms of evidence gathering and training to ensure that crimes are not just investigated properly, but also go to trial with properly prepared cases to secure convictions.

He also stressed that the department will be increasing its community-centered approach to regain the confidence of the citizenry.

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