But while ComPol defended Minister Musa today, he's not tolerating officers who break the law. He explained that over a hundred have been lost in the past year, due to different reasons, but mostly because of attrition. He told the hosts of Sunup that he and the minister are planning to go back to Cabinet to ask for another recruit squad:

Chester Williams - Commissioner of Police
"Last year we recruited 225 officers, of those 225, 220 graduated, since we have had that graduation, coupled with the rest of last year, we have lost 2/3s of that number of officers recruited, not 2/3s of squad 95, 2/3s of the general body and I had made it clear that the loss was due to the different attrition factors, some of which include retirement, so I don't understand how some people will think that a recruiter just passed out last year who ends up retiring. Some is from retirement, some are from dismissal, some are from discharged, some are from resignation, some are from death, some went off medically. So between last year and this year, we have lost over 100 officers to attrition. So you see where we find ourselves. In 2016, the department strength was 2,400. The demand for police was less than it is now and currently our straight is 2,200 so we're done when compared to 2016 in a time where the demand for policing is increasing. We've seen that a lot of communities have expanded and we don't have the police service in those communities, we see now that in areas that had a one man station, we now need a sub formation there because of the fact that the demand for police is increasing. So myself and my minister we are in dialogue and try to put together a justification to cabinet for us to be able to recruit another perhaps 150 officers this year to be able to replace those officers we have loss to attrition. And at the end of the day it is going to save the government because I know the union might want to say, oh but how are you recruiting police and we're at a time where we don't have no money but the amount of money we have saved from those officers we have discharged or have gone is more than what is going to cost us to recruit the other officers because those officers were making a salary at a higher level than what the new recruit is going to get so I think it's something that we can certainly do."

Crime Stopped Method

But until then, they have to work with the officers they have now to continue to fight crime. But the ComPol said that this time around, they'll also be working with the community and will employ more technology in their crime fighting methods. Plus, he announced that a digital forensic lab will be launched in Belize soon the first in the region:

Chester Williams - Commissioner of Police
"We have established a number of citizen advisory committee across the country and they are a team of civilians who come together and they act in support of the police, they advise the police on issues within the community, they assist in lobbying for the tools and equipment for the police to do their work and many other things that they would normally do to support the police and those groups that we have across the country have been very active, some of them are very vibrant and it's a group of people who re willing to work with us so that's one aspect of it. The next thing is to enhance our neighborhood watch program because again the society we live in dictates that we need to be our brother's keeper, it cannot be that we live in a bubble and we don't want to associate with our neighbor or whatever the case may be. If it is you have neighborhood where people look out for each other, criminals certainly will not want to go in a commit crime within that neighborhood and then from the technological standpoint there are several things were doing to make sure we have a grip on crime one is to enhance the surveillance camera system that we have, two, next week we're going to have the launch of the digital forensic lab in Belize so we're going to be one of the only countries in the region to have a digital forensic lab so that is very huge for us so you'll see that the police will be able to deal more with the issue of cyber crime and other crime that are related to the use of technology."

Elito Gets Awarded

Last week, we told you how the Belize Audubon Society celebrated its 53rd anniversary as an environmentally-friendly NGO in Belize. As part of their celebration, the Society selects an awardee from among a group of persons who are nominated for their conservation efforts to protect the environment.

It's called the James A. Waight Award for conservation, and it's named after one of the Audubon Society's founding Members, James Waight.

Last night, the organization selected its 34th recipient, and that awardee is Jose "Elito' Arceo, of San Pedro Town. Among other activities, Arceo has organized beach clean-ups, fostered protection of mangroves, and involved students in the island-wide activities for many years, including the Ambergris Caye, Eco-Challenge.

Arceo was recognized in a virtual ceremony yesterday, and here's what Financial Secretary, Joseph Waight, the son of James Waight had to say:

Arceo has also taken a leading role in the protection of important bird and turtle nesting sites.

APAMO Rangers Rescue Training

Turning now to another conservation group, APAMO - the Association of Protected Areas Management Organization - has developed a Search & Rescue training program for its member organizations.

The program is developed in collaboration with the Belize Institute of Search and Rescue Training (BISART).

Experts from BISART have been provided search and rescue training to rangers connected to APAMO member organizations. The rangers are being engaged in 3 different levels of search and rescue tactics. The first is an introduction that focuses on a combination of theory and practical exercises from swift water drills to casualty evacuation. The Rangers will advance to Level 2 of the training when they complete Level 1.

APAMO says that as custodians of Protected Areas, it is critical for Rangers to develop, enhance and retain the skills needed to save lives, especially in treacherous and remote conditions. This is a major step in ensuring employee and visitor safety and security across APAMO's Protected Areas. The mission of the programme is to build an effective and robust ranger force.

Climate Finance Know-How

We turn now to a series of Webinars that the Commonwealth Secretariat and the NDC Partnership are hosting in collaboration with the Government of Belize.

It's called the Commonwealth NDC Webinar Series, and it will highlight how particular interventions across the various stages of accessing and deploying climate finance can support the implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions.

The first of the series was held today under the theme: Climate Finance: From Landscape to Strategy Implementation.

This morning, we spoke with Dr. Lennox Gladden, the Chief Climate Change Officer at the National Climate Change Office:

The next in this webinar series will take place on March 8, and then the final session takes place on April 12th.

Ahmadiyaa Jama'at's Jalsa Salana

Today the Ahmadiyaa Jama'at Muslim Community in Belize held a press conference to give an update on their new mosque, the annual Jalsa Salana Convention, and their burgeoning basketball league. The new mosque has been open for some months now but it was recently inaugurated and now the community is inviting any member of the public to visit Masjid Noor. And they're also inviting the public to Jalsa Salana, which will be taking place on February 7th right at the mosque:

And in terms of the basketball league, it has come a long way from below 100 youths to, now, 600 strong. And they'll be starting their games every Sunday at the Mexico Center. And today, Naveed Mangla explained what the league means for the kids who participate:

The games will be played from 9am to 5pm and will also be streamed live.