Police Dept. Discusses Crime Stats 

The Belize Police Department held its biannual COMPSTAT meeting in Belmopan, where police commanders assessed crime trends and strategies. In the last meeting, which was held back in May 2024, Commissioner of Police Chester Williams acknowledged a rise in murders, saying, “We are down in major crime overall, but we’re up by seven murders compared to last year.”

In today’s COMPSTAT meeting, Williams reported a 16% reduction in major crimes but a slight increase in homicides. “Murders went from 87 in 2023 to 89 in 2024,” he said. Williams also pointed out that the Eastern Division saw a 24% drop in major crimes and an 18% decrease in homicides. “2024 is the only year where the Eastern Division does not account for more than half of the country’s murders,” with 39 of the 89 total.

Also present at today’s meeting was Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs. He stated his satisfaction with the police’s performance in the second half of 2024 but pointed out concerns over the increase in domestic-related murders. “Domestic-related murders were more than gang-related murders for the first time in a long time,” Musa said, referring to 18 domestic murders compared to 17 gang-related ones.