The latest crime statistics show that so far there have been 83 murders
this year. That is two murders less than the 85 at the same time last year.
Belize has the second highest murder rate in the Caribbean and at 34 murders
for every 100,000 residents, we are above the average murder rate in Central
America. And more than that, at least one expert says that there could be a
spike. That expert is Dr. Herbert Gayle – a social violence anthropologist
– one of the only such specialists in this region. He is in Belize working
on a male social participation and violence studies. We found out why it's
more than just research and how it could meaningfully impact the culture of
violence.
Dr. Herbert Gayle, Social Violence Anthropologist
"We have a Mayflower incident and everybody jump up and say, ‘Lord
have mercy.' We have another incident and everybody jump up and say, ‘Allah
be praised, help us.' It has to get beyond that. We have to begin a long
term program, not project."
And that program is beginning with this circle of concerned Belizeans led mostly
by high school principals. They are working with social violence anthropologist
Dr. Herbert Gayle on an answer to the crime problem.
Dr. Herbert Gayle,
"You can't act from gut feelings. You have to begin to act from
information. When you act on information that is credibly collected then you
can say my actions are built on this platform. That's one, the second 
thing about research is what we call the responsibility to the public.
You have to make sure everybody is in school. Two, you have to also have
public forums all over the place, educating people about what steps to take
regarding violence. Parenting, you have to take it from the base."
Dr. Gale says most of the focus will and has to be on men – mainly young
men - because they are the victims and most often than not the perpetrators
of street violence.
Dr. Herbert Gayle,
"If you look at the move from primary school to secondary school in
Belize it is dramatic. Just ask anybody in the Ministry of Education and they
will tell you with some reluctance and embarrassment of how many children are
dropping out. Boys are dropping out of school as they move from primary to secondary
level. The bulk of those who drop out may not become a problem to us in terms
of violence but then there is a critical 10% we can estimate from research in
other countries who are going to remind us that we never took them on through
secondary school.
What we are talking about is these tremendous development on the side of
females but quite the opposite on the side of males to the extent where we begin
to joke in the Caribbean with women to say make sure you have a MAN before you
have a MA. And I don't think this kind of imbalance, when you talk about
a male who is already more aggressive than a female by nature, we have to testosterone,
we have all kinds of chemicals that make us aggressive plus you need aggression
to hunt. And as men we are hunters, we don't go very far from the cave
as you know and if we don't educate these people then there is no means
of helping this person to stabilize."
But Dr. Gale warns that there will be no quick fixes – and that they
will have to cast a wide net.
Dr. Herbert Gayle,
"It requires policymakers to sit down together and think through this
thing. Not a single Ministry but everybody coming together. There are eight
Ministries immediately impacted by violence and those people need to come together
and work together. Ministry of Youth, Education, Health; every person that gets
stabbed is a problem on the health budget. It is just common sense, the Ministry
of Health needs to be onboard to work with people to say look, this is the cost
analysis of one person stabbed.
As I said we have to begin to think radically and we need to first of all
begin to pull the kids off the street to sit down with us and teach us policies.
Policies in the Caribbean are top down. A number of our policies are written
and put forward by men who are over age 45. Not saying that you have to have
younger politicians, we are not saying against older people, but we're
just saying you have to have a blend. You have to have a Parliament, you have
to have a position that says we need some women, we need the brightest women
in this group, in the coalition.
We need older men for their experience and their conservatism because some
things have to be conserved. We also need a few of the younger energetic more
radical males working with you on these policies. And we also need former gang
members, persons who have affiliations with gangs and all these to come forward
to work to create a knowledge base of where do we go from here. That's
why we have research."
Nelma Mortis is the research manager.
Nelma Mortis, Research Manager
"When we talk about this research we had a coalition of people who
when looking at the problem of crime and violence figured that we needed information
if we want to know where we should be going as it relates to finding solutions
to the problem. And so of course it is managed under the Ministry of Education
but it is a Belizean research. The information will be available for all. And
basically the goal is to look at male social participation and violence in urban
Belize. That's where the problem lies."
Dr. Herbert Gayle,
"You have to re-examine the central political authority made up of
the media, made up of schools, churches, the police, Parliament. You have to
take all of these, what we call the central political authority, all the groups
that have direct impact on whether a person will commit a violent act later
or earlier in life. Bring them together, begin to think partnership within Belize
and see if we can turn this ship around."
If government comes through with enough funding, the research should
be completed by June of 2010. In other crime statistics news, for 2009 so far,
arrests for murders are up by 28.6%. Reports of robbery are up by 22% and burglary
reports are up by 12.6%. Firearm arrests are up sharply, by 50%.
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