By Belize Live News Staff: Minister of Home Affairs Julius Espat is doing his homework on policing, convening what the government calls a first-of-its-kind meeting with former Commissioners of Police and senior commanders in Belmopan. Yet one very notable name was missing from the guest list.
The Government of Belize Press Office reports that the talks centred on crime-prevention strategies, building a more efficient and effective Police Department, earning public trust and confidence, and lifting the morale of officers on the ground. Espat said the sit-down was important both to honour these former police leaders and to draw on their decades of combined experience.
The minister, an architect by profession who is new to the world of policing, assembled an experienced group. As 7News reported, attendees included former commissioners Jeffries and Westby, as well as former Deputy Commissioners Maureen Leslie and Mike Segura.
But as 7News was quick to observe, conspicuously absent was Chester Williams, the most recent past commissioner, and the man credited with driving the murder count down to a 20-year low while in office. No public explanation has been given for his absence, and it remains unclear whether he was invited at all.
That gap has not gone unnoticed. For a meeting billed as a gathering of the country’s policing brain trust, leaving out the leader with the most current knowledge of the department, and a headline-grabbing record on violent crime, raises an obvious question that the ministry has yet to answer.
To be fair to the new minister, the consultation itself has been received as a positive step, a sign that Espat intends to listen and learn as he takes on one of the toughest portfolios in government. Still, until the Chester Williams question is addressed, the story of who was in the room may be overshadowed by the story of who was not.
