Moving Forward with the LIU

Stakeholders of the Leadership Intervention Unit (LIU) gathered at the Queen Street Police Station in Belize City for a special meeting to discuss the future of the LIU post William Dawson. Dawson who was the director died on January 25 due to illness. His primary goal as the LIU Director was to foster peace among feuding gangs in Belize City. Dawson did a great deal of work including playing a crucial role in developing the  Multi-sectoral Crime Prevention and Crime Control Strategic Plan. Updating the media was Police Commissioner Chester Williams. 

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police: “It was a very good session. Many of the young men voiced their concerns that they may have. Things that they see as potential problems down the road and again we made the commitment that we’ll continue to do what we can to support them in whatever way we can to ensure that we can continue what we have started. Well of course you know you have the Maslow’s hierarchy of need and ensuring that one feels love and one can eat is  essential to human existence and they want to see the programs that we have started continue and again I emphasize that this is not a program where we just issue hand outs it’s a program where we engage these young people in their respective communities to work in some capacity and then they’re compensated for the work that they do. So they want the commitment to ensure that you know the work that we started will continue and we’ll continue to see how we can make that little stipend to help us maintain our family as we go along.”

Police Minister Kareem Musa says that Dawson left behind an incredible history and big shoes to fill. 

Hon. Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs and New Growth Industries: “That we’re definitely taking our time with. Like I said Mr.Dawson is truly an irreplaceable force to reckon with. He enjoyed the respect of so many of the individuals in this room. His ears must be ringing the amount of times they called his name today just to honor him and to pay tribute to him for the great work that he did in just one year he truly left behind an incredible legacy, very big shoes to fill and so we are taking our time with that but we do have a structure in place that not necessarily one person will do it but an entire team that is working to make sure that we keep the peace in Belize City.”

Reporter: Do you have any prospective candidates to fill in those positions ?

Hon. Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs and New Growth Industries: “Many. Many people have reached out to me. I have to say at least fifteen individuals. Of course we have to go through a vetting process and it has to be an individual that the young men and women from these various areas trust and have confidence in. I think that is a critical part of this. Mr.Dawson like I said enjoyed that trust and confidence among all areas, he could walk in any single area across this city at any time of day, any time of night and no-one would ever think of harming him because they knew his genuine nature and they knew where his heart was and that is the kind of individual we want to fill this void.”