Police Hope to Reduce Murder and Other Violent Crimes in 2022

Kareem Musa

The final tally for the number of homicides committed in 2021 is yet to be released by the Belize Police Department.  Nonetheless, we asked the Minister of Home Affairs for an unofficial comparison with figures from the previous year.  According to Kareem Musa, the total number of murders recorded in 2021 stands at one hundred and twenty-five.

Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs

“That’s a comparison that is oftentimes made but it’s really, it’s apples and oranges because you’re looking at 2020, one in which you had a curfew and a complete lockdown of the country because of COVID and that was for a significant period; and two, you had a ninety-day state of emergency.  And so there were, I believe, about twenty something more murders in 2021 than there were in 2020, but when actually compare 2021 to the last ten years, you will find that it is relatively low compared to those other years, excluding 2020, for the reasons I just cited.  And so, while it is that one hundred and twenty-five is not where we want to be by any means, we certainly look forward to reducing that number this year, 2022, again with initiatives like these and of course there has to be a penal aspect.  While we are coming from a very good place expressing goodwill, the police department also has to penalize those who step out of line, who don’t want to be a part of this program and who insist on living a life of crime.”