Santa Elena Gains Police Station After Months of Rampant Crime  

Santa Elena is getting a little safer with the inauguration of a new police substation. For months, the twin towns of Santa Elena and San Ignacio have been plagued with rampant gang activity and crime. Along with the substation are twenty-nine officers assigned to the area and a new police vehicle. Today, News Five’s Britney Gordon attended the opening ceremony of the substation to learn how the department will continue to tackle crime in the area. Here’s that story.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

Just over one month ago, residents of the twin towns of Santa Elena and San Ignacio lived in fear that they would be the next victim of a crime. Heated gang rivalries, robberies and murders were just a few of the crimes that residents were forced to endure as police grappled with managing the two communities. Today, residents breathe a sigh of relief as they welcome the newly built police substation in Santa Elena Town. Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams spoke with us about the achievement.

 

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“It has been a work in progress. I know it required a lot of Dedication and commitment. Like the mayor said, they must have the political will and they had the political will to make sure it happened. And as a commission of police, I made sure that whatever needed to have been done was done. And so here we are. And indeed, the mayor is happy. The good citizens of Santa Elena are going to be extremely gratified with this police station while the criminals are not going to be happy. So our job is to make sure that those who are law abiding get satisfactory work in terms of policing and the criminals on the other hand, our job is to make them miserable to make sure that they do not get that room that they may need to be able to perpetrate the criminal acts.”

 

Twenty-nine officers were pulled from various teams throughout the country to be stationed in Santa Elena. The department aims to have at least one hundred officers in the town as it continues its recruitment process. The station comes at a crucial time for the department, as just a few weeks ago, residents and business owners rallied together to voice their dissatisfaction with the state of crime in the area. Mayor Earl Trapp further emphasized the value of the location to the livelihoods of residents.

 

 

Earl Trapp, Mayor, Santa Elena & San Ignacio

“This substation will act as a deterrent to criminals and  it will make the response time to crime in the area much more prompt. No, so it is very key and important in this area and key to notice that we are remodeling a park in this area and it’s a state of the art park that. I’m sure many children and families will use. So it’s important to have a substation just almost in front of the park.”

 

 

Officers will be mobilized with a new police vehicle and two motorcycles. Williams says that the department is working to increase security cameras throughout the area.

 

Chester Williams

“We’re still working with the chair of BTL. Perhaps we’re going to require the intervention of the prime minister to see if they can get the BTL to be able to provide the fiber for those cameras to be reinstalled inside San Ignacio, Santa Elena. So I know we have N.S.C. meeting today, so I’ll bring that up to the prime minister at NSC today.”

 

 

For the residents of Santa Elena, the station is long overdue. Alex Balona, Minister of State and area representative of Cayo Central, says that the department will continue to work with the community to ensure that fighting crime is done as efficient as possible.

 

Alex Balona, Minister of State

“We have been visiting the different sections of the community with mister Howell Gillet, and we are increasing the awareness and where the community residents, the law-abiding citizens can come out to the community and help the police groups. It is really important, and I appeal to the residents. Like I said earlier today, maybe by the time we’re addressing a situation in Bradley’s Park, there might be something else stirring up in Santa Cruz area. But if we have the neighborhood groups being active, then we can address and assist the police through these groups as well.”

 

Britney Gordon for News Five.