Gang Rivalry Erupts After Mediation Attempts

GANG RIVALRY ERUPTS. On March 7 assailants shot at PIV gang member Patrick “Pato” Jones as he drove down Mopan Street in Belize City. The gunshots caused his vehicle to overturn and sustain extensive damage. Then the next night four other PIV gang members left a car—allegedly driven by a complicit policeman. They sought to retaliate by executing a rival gang member on his turf on Logwood Street. One of the PIV gangsters, Carrel Sanchez, ran into that turf firing shots. But he himself got shot down and killed.

Earlier the same day, Sanchez had participated in government-sponsored gang mediation. But Commissioner of Police (ComPol) Chester Williams brushed aside criticism of that effort. “We will try utmost best to keep those who are engaged and trying to change their lives to do so. But at the same time, we must go hard on those who continue to hold the people of this city hostage. And so, operations …are geared at going after gang members aggressively.”

So on the next evening, truckloads of police spilled out onto BLC gang turf firing rubber bullets. They hit brothers Earl and Hubert Baptist with the non-lethal bullets. Then they carted off the Baptist brothers and others to the police station.

ComPol Williams vowed that “this crackdown will continue” with more raids. But so will William Dawson’s Leadership Intervention Unit, which seeks to resolve gang conflicts. “Mr. Dawson is always available, he answers his phone anytime in the day or night… He certainly would come out and do what he can to quell the situation. But when you take a gun and you go and hunt for the other party, then that clearly shows that you are weak and that you have no intention of changing.”