And the SOE was triggered by a spate of gang murders, which has led to the current murder count being higher than last year's number.
However, last year saw a sharp decline in the murder rate. Because of that, for the first time in many years, Belize is out of the top ten list of most dangerous countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Yesterday, we asked the Minister of Home Affairs about this statistic.
Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs
"I believe we are number 14 now in Latin America and the Caribbean. Last year for the first time, we came out of the top ten and were at 11. But as you would know, under the last administration, we were as high as number 3 and 4 on the most dangerous countries in Latin America. I am thankful that we have moved out of the top 10 list, we are now at number 14, and I look forward to going even further down that list."
This year the Caribbean dominates the Latin American and Caribbean murder count list.
St Kitts and Nevis tops the list with a murder rate of 65 murders for every hundred thousand inhabitants. Jamaica is second at 60.9, St Vincent and the Grenadines is third at 50.1, Turks and Caicos is fourth at 46.4, Ecuador is fifth at 55.5.
Honduras is the only Central American Country in the top ten - they are ninth in the world. With a murder rate of 21.5, Belize is at number 14.
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