ComPol Says Murder Count for 2024 is 89, Two More Than in 2023

As we mentioned earlier this week, the Belize Police Department will be releasing its latest crime stats next week. But today, while touring the Lake Independence area of Belize City, Commissioner of Police Chester Williams gave us a sneak peek at the murder rate. According to Williams, there were eighty-nine murders in 2024, which is two more than in 2023. He explained that despite their best efforts to keep the numbers down, there were moments when things got out of hand, citing the Monkey River triple murder and the recent incidents in Belize City over the Christmas holidays.

 

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“Well you know the devil is always busy. The police worked arduously to try as best as we could have to keep the murder count below last year’s figure, or at least at last year’s figure. That was my hope, and believe you me, I pushed my police officers, and I know that they were out there doing their part. But at the end, the devil got busy. We had the triple in Monkey River and then we had the double with the two persons with the drug deal in Hattieville, you know, then eventually we had the other two, which include one in Belize City. So, it just caught up with us and those were things that I do not see would have fallen within the preventative reach of the police. They happened and it took our number to 89 compared to 87 last year. I still believe that 89 is a huge accomplishment considering the fact that prior to me becoming commissioner of police, we were averaging around 130 to 140 murders annually. And since I became commissioner, we see the numbers steadily decrease. And again, while I do not take the credit for it, because, like I said before, there are different factors, but the leadership that not only myself, but also my minister, and the prime minister, are very instrumental. When we want equipment, when we want recruits, the prime minister always supports us to make sure that we get what we need. to be able to fight crime effectively. So, I have to thank the prime minister and my minister for the support that they had given us, um, to have been able to achieve what we have done, um, over the past few years. Moving forward, we just have to continue doing our utmost best, um, to try and reduce the murder count. It’s the main issue for me. Um, I know that every crime is a crime. But when you’re robbed or your whole home is burglarized or something is stolen from you, you still have your life. When your life is taken away, that is irreplaceable. And so, we must always try to work as best as we can to save lives. Even the lives of those people who we believe may not value their own lives, we must make sure we do what we can to help them to protect their own life as well.”