The Belize Police Department (BPD) is 220 times stronger following the official graduation/passing out of Recruit Squad 95 on Friday, December 17th, at the National Police Training Academy in the capital city of Belmopan. Some of these 200+ new police officers will start their policing career in San Pedro Town, Ambergris Caye, joining the island forces in maintaining law and order on La Isla Bonita.
The police force on the Cayes (Caye Caulker and Ambergris Caye) counts with more than 100 officers combined. The principal municipality, San Pedro, is working with a workforce of 85 and aims to increase that number to 100. Ambergris Caye continues to develop, and with it comes a demand for more security as the country’s prime tourism destination. The Cayes, under Region Four commander Superintendent Chris Noble and Assistant Superintendent Basil Reyes, is one place in the country after Belize City that proper policing is paramount, and having more boots on the ground is one way to keep crime as low as possible efficiently.
The official passing out ceremony in Belmopan was attended by the Minister of Home Affairs and New Growth Industries, the Honourable Kareem Musa, Commissioner of Police (ComPol) Chester Williams, including the Governor General of Belize Her Excellency Froyla Tzalam. Musa challenged the new police officers to think differently and embrace this opportunity to serve their country, their communities and build the following police department. ComPol congratulated the new officers and highlighted that for the first time in the country’s history, Recruit Squad 95 graduated the most significant number of police officers within the BDP.
The Opposition also applauded the graduation of the 167 male and 53 female news officers under the United Democratic Party (UDP). A press release congratulated the new law enforcers. “At a time when the challenges are more daunting than ever for those whose mission and responsibility is to uphold law and order, the UDP, as should all Belizeans, thanks to them for choosing and embracing this herculean task of restoring, protecting, and preserving the safety and security of our people, our communities and our nation,” part of the release read.
As new members of the national police department, they leave behind 20 weeks of training and now transition onto a lifetime of service. The work starts now, with the primary responsibility to help the department in their unending task of combating crime and always observing their motto, ‘Working in Partnership with the Community for a safer Belize.’.
