Editorial – FIRE PERDOMO!

Minister Carlos Perdomo and Police Commissioner Jeffries have not started 2010 on a good footing.  Late last year, many Belizeans were shocked to hear Mr. Perdomo brag about lower crime rates. Whether those figures he quoted are real or imagined, Belizeans believe that 2009 was a violent year and that crime had gotten completely out of control.

According to statistics coming out of the Police Department, 2009 was an incredibly violent year where 97 murders were committed, 30 persons were raped, 34 children were molested, 526 people were robbed and 150 motor vehicles were stolen.

The New Year is just into its second month and the violence continues unabated.  Channel 7 started off its news on Tuesday night saying that in 12 hours, 6 people were shot, 2 died and a teen aged boy was on life support.  This is simply a continuation of what occurred in January when 5 persons were murdered.

To add to all this, Belizeans are becoming more convinced that members of the Belize Police Department are involved in some of the criminal activities in Belize.  This is a critical problem for Perdomo and the Commissioner, who must provide Belizeans with the assurance that the Police Department is in control of the situation. To now have to convince the people that the Police Department is not corrupt is an added burden in the fight against crime.

In an interview on Channel 7 the Prime Minister stated that he believes that his Commissioner is doing the best job he can and is fully dedicated to his work. Likewise the Prime Minister supported his Minister of National Security.  While he lamented the shooting of his driver’s seven year old step-daughter who is currently in the hospital with a gunshot wound that could result in her paralysis, the Prime Minister’s remarks could not have offered any comfort to his driver or their family.

What has happened to the 360 degree approach to crime?  Where is the action plan of the Crimes Control Council?  Where is the effort to get the illegal guns off the streets?  When will the forensic lab be put in place to modernize criminal investigations?

A few weeks ago someone threw a firecracker (dynamite) over the fence at Anglican Cathedral College; the effect of that was that it drew out the media when it was being said that a grenade was thrown in the school.  Currently 18 grenades are out there in the hands of civilians and the fear that one can be detonated on one of our school campuses is real.

In the meetings of the Belize Association of Principals of High Schools, our high school principals are preoccupied with the issues of safety; they spend hours discussing ways to keep their students safe and must fight to protect them from the lure of gang activity.  It used to be that our principals spent their time in meetings focusing mostly on curriculum development, the formation of their students and the development of the Nation’s youth, now they have the added burden of policing and keeping crime of their campuses.

In any nation, the protection and safety of its citizens must be the first priority.  When a state is unable to protect innocent citizens from life threatening situations outside of natural disasters, then the state has failed in its primary responsibility to its citizens.  All measures must be taken for the safety and protection of civilians.

Belizeans all across this country are reaching to the point of desperation, most of us now live in fear of the criminals and as a result lock ourselves inside our homes.  Those who are victims of the violence are now looking beyond the police to solve crimes.  Many have lost confidence not only in the police, but also in the ability of the system to convict people of criminal activities.  In crime riddled areas, children are falling into violent activity at an earlier age.

The Prime Minister must show leadership in this matter; the time has come for him to fire Perdomo and to take over the Ministry of National Security.  Anything less would be an indication that the Prime Minster has abandoned his oath to do right by our people.

| | | | | |