Belize

Belize Police Department

Mission statement

“The police and community working in partnership for a safer Belize”

With a force of more than 1,300 men and women serving a population of almost 300,000, the Belize Police Department (BPD) is responsible for providing law enforcement services across the country.  Headed by a Police Commissioner, the BPD is part of Belize’s Ministry of National Security, which shares administrative responsibility for the force with the Security Services Commission.

Responsibilities:

• Maintain law and order;
• Protect life and property;
• Prevent and detect crime;
• Apprehend and prosecute offenders.

Objectives:

• Improve effectiveness of preventive patrolling to reduce crime in the streets and other public places;
• Improve road safety awareness to reduce accidents;
• Continue to target drug traffickers and reduce availability of hard drugs in Belize;
• Improve investigating procedures so as to increase the rate of detection and conviction of offenders;
• Improve the quality of police service to the community with a view to securing more support and cooperation from the public in the fight against crime.

The BPD headquarters are based in Belmopan and are made up of:

• Office of the Commissioner of Police;
• Management Services;
• Operations (divided into four jurisdictions).
• Head of Crime Investigation Branch;
• Head of Special Branch.

 BPD specialized national police units include:

• Anti Drugs Unit;
• Community Policing;
• Court and Process;
• Crime Scene Unit;
• Criminal Investigations Bureau;
• Criminal Records Office;
• Gang Suppression Unit;
• Intelligence Agency;
• Joint Intelligence Coordinating Centre;
• Internal Affairs Department;
• Police Information Technology Unit;
• Signals (Radio and Technology Communication) ;
• Special Patrol Unit;
• Traffic Department;
• Vehicle fleet.

INTERPOL Belmopan

Part of the Joint Intelligence Cordinating Centre, the INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB) for Belize is located at the BPD headquarters in Belmopan City. 

Its three staff members are in charge of:

• Supervising daily operations;
• Exchanging information with the INTERPOL community;
• Sharing INTERPOL information with Belize law enforcement agencies;
• Liaison with member countries and the Financial Investigation Unit for investigations into companies suspected of engaging in fraud, tax evasion and money laundering;
• Security of the I-24/7 network;
• Publication of notices and coordination of action required by member countries in relation to INTERPOL notices;
• Updating the INTERPOL databases with crime data relating to Belize;
• Helping Belize fight trafficking in stolen motor vehicles.

Looking to the future: The NCB plans to expand access to INTERPOL databases to national law enforcement agencies. This will help secure the territory of Belize, enable border police to determine if travellers are potential threats, and provide first-class police services to domestic colleagues.