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Belize Police Department
Law enforcement in Belize is conducted by the Belize Police Department, the country’s national police force. It is headed by a Commissioner and is headquartered in Belmopan. HistoryThe Belize Police Department is descended from the British Honduras Constabulary (BHC), and started by the burgess family which was established in 1886.[1] Constabulary personnel initially numbered 141 and were recruited in Barbados because local men showed no interest in enlisting.[1] The government assigned the early police the task of preserving law and order in the colony.[1] The Constabulary was at first a paramilitary force, but in 1902, it was made into a civil police force.[1] The constabulary was reorganized after World War I, when soldiers returning from service abroad (as well as several Barbadians and Jamaicans[citation needed]) joined the force.[1] The force was reorganized again in 1957, when its first commissioner of police instituted modernizing reforms that resulted in the force's present form.[1] During the colonial period, expatriate officers filled all senior posts in the police.[1] But with self-government and then independence, more Belizeans assumed positions of authority.[1] The official name of the force was changed to the Belize National Police in 1973,[1] later the word Force was changed to fit the new vision of the police and it is now known as the Belize Police Department.[citation needed] In the early 1990s, the commissioner and all senior police officers were Belizeans.[1] As of 1991, the force, which was part of the Ministry of Home Affairs, was the sole organization responsible for policing the country and for managing regular immigration matters.[1] A commissioner of police headed the force.[1] The governor general appointed the commissioner with the concurrence of the prime minister after consultation with the leader of the opposition.[1] The commissioner exercised operational and disciplinary control over the police force.[1] As of the early 1990s, the police force had an authorized strength of approximately 500, a ratio of about three police to every 1,000 inhabitants.[1] Police operations were divided into three territorial divisions: Eastern, which included Belmopan and Belize City; Central; and Western.[1] The force had a small maritime element that operated six shallow-draft motorboats capable of patrolling coastal waters frequented by smugglers.[1] The force was also divided into three operational branches: General Duties, Crime Investigation, and Tactical Service.[1] The Tactical Service, formed in 1978, assumed the nonmilitary responsibilities of its predecessor, the Police Special Force, which was incorporated into the Belize Defence Force (BDF).[1] The police underwent training at the Police Training School in Belmopan.[1] In sixteen-week programs, recruits studied general police duties and procedures, criminal law, evidence, traffic management, and firearms.[1] Senior police officers attended a ten-week command course run by the British police in Britain.[1] There were a small number of women police in the force, and the first woman was promoted to the rank of inspector in 1989.[1] All personnel were subject to transfer anywhere in the country.[1] Police performed their regular duties unarmed, although arms were issued for special duties or in cases of extreme necessity. Officers' uniforms resembled those of British police forces.[1] Sergeants and lower ranks wore khaki shirts, blue serge trousers with a green seam on both sides, and dark blue peaked caps.[1] Some police investigators were not required to wear uniforms.[1] During the 1980s, the large increase in drug trafficking greatly challenged the police.[1] Unfortunately, some personnel proved vulnerable to corruption by traffickers, and public confidence in the police suffered from charges of official collusion in the drug trade.[1] Public perceptions of the police also suffered from charges that police sometimes resorted to unnecessary force in their efforts to deal with escalating violent crime.[1] During the late 1980s, police leadership began to focus on both problems, expressing a willingness to pursue every allegation of malpractice and to rid the police of unworthy personnel.[1] Penalties for official violators of criminal statutes also increased.[1] StrengthOn 31 March 2008, the Belize Police Department maintained 1,073 sworn officers and 141 civilian employees.[2] OrganizationThe Belize Police Department is headed by a Commissioner and is divided into two main branches, Operational and Administrative, headed by an Assistant Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner, respectively, which contain the following units:[3]
RanksThe Belize Police Department ranks are listed in descending order:
Operations
On 30 April 2012, the Belize Police raided John McAfee's property in Orange Walk Town, The raid was conducted by the Gang Suppression Unit. A GSU press release stated that McAfee was arrested for unlicensed drug manufacturing and possession of an unlicensed weapon.[4] He was released without charge.[5] In 2012, Belize police spokesman Raphael Martinez confirmed that he was not convicted nor charged but only suspected.[6] On 12 November 2012, Belize police started a search for McAfee as a "person of interest" in connection to the murder of American expatriate Gregory Viant Faull. Faull was found dead of a gunshot wound on 11 November 2012, at his home on the island of Ambergris Caye, the largest island in Belize.[7][8] Faull was a neighbour of McAfee.[9] No one has yet been formally charged.[8] In a November 2012 interview with Wired,[10] McAfee said that he has always been afraid police would kill him and thus refused their routine questions; he has since been evading the Belizean authorities.[9] Belize's prime minister Dean Barrow called McAfee "extremely paranoid, even bonkers".[11] McAfee fled Belize when he was sought for questioning concerning the murder.[12][13][14] See also
References
External links
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