Should or should not the Government of Belize disband the Gang Suppression Unit (GSU) of the police department? Give at least two of your informed opinions and respond to two of your colleagues' comments.
The Government should disband the G.S.U. because of the reckless endangerment of the public, and the misuse of their given power to do what ever they want, like home invasion without warrant, and arresting individuals without evidence.
Reading your comment i have seen some important points and I can see that you also knew what you were saying, good job Isaac! You had some strong points.
I disagree with you. Without the GSU, the people are endangered-by our own neighbors. The GSU, being enforced has helped tremendously in decreasing the crime rate and removing gang affiliates off the streets. As humans we all take advantage of power from time to time. And about the Warrant, the police do it too, why not disband them?
i disagree..the GSU are the only Law Enforcers in the country that has the least corruption. If the GSU is disband who will the citizen depend on? The Police Department is only not enough to protect the country.
Totally disagree with you Isaac. Remember the G.S.U. specializes in conducting special operations rather than calling it (home invasion) that busts criminals and their illegal transactions. If this is not done; how do you expect drugs, firearms and ammunition from reaching our youths. Parks (2014) tabulated, sentenced to five years in prison was convicted Lucius Myers for unlicensed ammunition and firearms (para.1). So as you can see Isaac, these so called home invasion revealed what someone should not be on possession of for the sake of what they use them for.
I couldn't agree with you more Isaac. I personally believe that the G.S.U are reckless in regards to their actions. I have seen for myself countless situations where they have disrespected and abuse innocent people. They also take great advantage of their power, whereas they've participated in unauthorized conductions.
The GSU at times need to 'abuse their power' as you say because some of these criminals or assumed criminals are very unruly to the officers when they are doing their inspections and searches.
The Government of Belize should disband the G.S.U. because of their violence towards Belizeans, home invasion without warrant. They also use their power to abduct civilians off the streets and to place them in the station for no necessary reason. I also think G.S.U take their advance training as an advantage to hurt innocent people of our country.
I strongly agree with you Monisha about the home invasion without a search warrant. To add to your post. i believe that there is no way the GSU should just invade someone's house without a warrant. If the GSU want to search a home, they should follow procedure in doing so. For example, if they suspect that someone's home might have drugs hidden or guns, they should do it the right way and the right way is to go to magistrate and ask for a search warrant to search x y z home's because they suspect they might have drugs or guns hidden. not just go and broke down people's door and search home without a search warrant.
You have some strong points there, but I must say I disagree with your opinion about disbanding the G.S.U. they take people who have a possibility of committing a crime, That is call crime prevention. Have you ever seen how the G.S.U react to respectable and presentable people? They show back respect, how about the reaction of the G.S.U to the ones who shout at them and sag their pants and get offended if they are asked questions? as the elderly would say " they get what they deserve".
i disagree as well. i believe if you dress and carry yourself as a potential criminal then they should try to prevent it. the company you keep can also make you a target. what do you do when you don't want a flu, don't do things to catch it right? well as for this situation you should not do the things to be classed as a potential criminal.
I don't share the same opinion as you do on this matter. Evil do exist in all of us, and even if both sides of the coin are evil, the lesser of the two evils is still the GSU. The criminals should not win this battle, if they do we all lose. The GSU cannot stand alone in this matter, they need our help, they need our support, we need their presence.
I disagree with you about disbanding the GSU. Which innocent civilians are they hurting? The only individuals i see the GSU going after are the same ones committing the crime. The correct one. Its so easy for us to say they haven't done investigations. Just because someone gets on the news complaining. We aren't there when the GSU are having meeting or planning raid. Belizeans use to complain that no one is standing up and doing something about crime and now that the GSU is trying to protect the innocent Belizeans are complaining.
The government of Belize should not disband the gang suppression unit because one of their main tasks is making sure major gang affiliations and drug distributions do not spread to other areas in Belize. They have confiscated more drugs, firearms and ammunitions than ever before. Maybe at times they may handle situations to the extreme but the individuals they are dealing with aren’t innocent children, these are grown people that commit crime on a daily basis without regard for themselves much less of others. Eliminating the GSU will not help the situation; it will only make things worse. Most of the complaints made about the GSU are from the same criminals or people connected to them. These criminals are unhappy because the GSU keep finding all their illegal substances and they would love to go back to the times when they could freely break the law.
I strongly agree with you Deborah! Suspending the GSU is like opening the freeway to crime and violence land, the land we currently call Belize. They have been doing a wonderful job, and yes they make a few mistakes but why only lament on the little wrong when they have done much more good? People in Belize just don't like correction.
You have some strong points there Deborah, I totally agree you as well. the G.S.U have done more that all the different police force we've ever had. No offence to no one but I think only people that wants the G.S.U to be disband are those who benefit from the gangs or are affiliated with the gangs. and you're right they're just mad because they cant do their illegal activities. But thanks to human rights the criminals have more rights that the innocent Belizeans.
I totally agree with you Deborah. Mainly focusing on the distribution of the drugs within the country. Its so sad to see our younger generation at the corner smoking a joint of weed. Without the G.S.U. these drugs would be easier to reach destroying our youths who are the future for our nation. A search conducted by the G.S.U. at George Price Avenue yielded 4.6 pounds of weed (Ali, 2014, para.1). We can say that without the G.S.U. in place, this drug would have never been ceased and further being in our streets ready to be sold.
The government of Belize should not disband the Gang Suppression Unit. Reason being, they are a special unit from the Belize Police Department, specialized to respond to crime and violence within the country. It is factual that for the four years they have been enforced they have aided drastically in the decreasing of the crime and violence rate. The first video states exactly what the rates are for the years 2011-2013 for their magnificent work. The GSU Officers are not saints or aliens, they are humans just like you and I. Therefore, they too will falter. There will come times where they may talk to rough, hit too hard, push to far or whatever are the complaints. But I will ask, are you there to really see the full background of the complaints they are broadcasting? Many a times Belizeans fail to realize there is a way to do things and the minute one tries to go on their own route things become chaotic. Resisting to follow the commands of a GSU Officer will definitely result in that officer becoming rough, and then we complain that they are brutal. Simple things like a body search being done on the street, people tend to rant about instead of just agreeing to it since they claim they are so innocent and have nothing illegal on them. The GSU is being sponsored partially by the US. Therefore, they will be taught to be 'rough'-cold, hard and tear-less. We all know how foreign military personnel act. They are trained to invade without warrant and people just go along with it. That's how the GSU are being trained. Besides, GSU will not kick down someone's door unless the person refuses to open it. At the end of the day, the government disbanding the GSU now doesn't not assure us that it won't be re-enforced by a new government if not the current one, just under a different name. It has been proven that that is what occurs. Since the year, 1986, 5 units have been enforced and complained about, 'disbanded and changed' (more like just the name and Head Officer changes). This is an ongoing process in the country because the people do not like correction. We like living like animals and even the animals live more peaceful than us. The GSU has been do a great job, the rates have dropped, although not as fast as we probably would like, but they have. Removing them will give way for a rapid increase in violence, drug and munition trafficking. Kudos to the Gang Suppression Unit. -In time things get better, but we must work together-
100% Agree with you! Your point about the GSU not breaking down doors unless the individuals refuses to open it is spot on. I know because i have a cousin that was in that situation. When she was hanging out with some of her friends the GSU knocked on the door and identified themselves. She said she got frightened because all of a sudden everyone started running, trying to get out and that's when the officers broke down the door! I know several people that have been ADU and are in the GSU and they always speak about how much Belizeans are unaware of the type of resistance these criminals have. And how shocking it is that some would choose to believe what the criminals have to say rather the officers that are risking their lives trying to make Belize a safer and better place.
The Gang Suppression Unit also known as the Death Squad. In April 2010, The Gang Suppression Unit was formed, as a special unit of The Police Department. It was an initiative part of the restore Belize Project. (Gang Suppression Unit, 2012). The Gang Suppression Unit should not be disbanded from Belize as the crack Drug Ring Operations they also yield substantial results with the least corruption in their operations. This Special Unit is essential for Belize. The Gang Suppression Unit of Belize has rehabilitated the rate significally over the years since their formation. A reported drug bust was conducted by The Gang Suppression Unit that yield 24.4Kg of hybrid cannabis and led to the arrest of the person involved. (R, Trujillo. 2014). The removal of illegal drugs expands the safety of our local community, making citizen feel more at ease and nonviolent. The Gang Suppression Unit is the power house who guarantees drug bust occurs frequently. According to (H, Gayle. 2010) the result of neglect is cause by the corruption in the Police Department of Belize. The Belizean Citizen states "they caution the Police Force" (W, C, Ramos. 2010). The Police Department has been known to the public as tainted. They have been many cases with the police department for bribery. The Gang Suppression Unit however was formed under the Project of renovating Belize. (Gang Suppression Unit. 2012) Without the Gang suppression Unit the citizen of Belize will not have any law enforcers to trust and depend on, since the Police Department is known to be corrupted. The Gang Suppression Unit should not be dispersed because they reduce the drug trafficking in Belize and also they are less dishonored when carrying out their operations compared to the Police Department. The G.S.U is essential to Belize because they help in restoring the country.
Disbanding the G.S.U. is like having a house without locked doors, a gun with an empty barrel, a country without protection. The G.S.U. helps incarcerate those criminals out there disturbing our piece and endangering our lives. Why disband the only ones we can trust on to stop the brutal crimes they commit. News back in the days reported of at least 1-2 crimes happening every single day; now you hear of 1-2 crimes happening in a weeks time and that is because of the G.S.U. in place. Crime cant fully be stopped but with them in place surely we are safer than ever before.
Hey Lawrence, well I believe that you are both wrong and right in your opinion. I understand that the G.S.U has served justice by placing many of the criminals in prison and have had the citizens of Belize rest peacefully. However, it is not so much what their job entails but how they go about doing it. People don't trust them, simply because of how they behave towards us as the citizens of Belize and how they abuse their power. Crime has never stopped, and as you said it never fully will. But while these ruthless criminals who have consumed countless drugs and are out here presently killing one another, the G.S.U believe that it is not their place to do anything if "the opportunity is not there." The mentality they obtain is discouraging. Mabye the government of Belize shouldn't band the G.S.U because this department HAS helped, I must admit. But they should regard either training these men properly on how to behave or hiring completely new men to take over who obtain a more realistic and justifying mentality.
will i would dis agree as if u look at only the bad things they do then you could expect that but looking at the full picture then you would see that they do have some good they do. if we look at the people they deal with are not as nice like gangs and high end criminals and if you would like to look at them roughing up the youths of the street then look at what they are use too.
The G.S.U. should not be disband since they are the only unit in the country that undertakes risky measures to combat gang related activity in our country. They are the only ones out there risking their lives infiltrating themselves in the so called (ghost town and George Street) to fight against the gang members and conducting special operations. No other unit in the country would dear go into these places because they no the risks they are getting into. I can say that this is the only unit the gang members would show a little of their fear and stop any illegal activity when they are around. The G.S.U. is the only defense we have and their doing a great job.
I STRONGLY AGREE with you Lawrence!! Without this super security system Belize would be upside down and I wouldn't want to live her anymore. They are doing their jobs and I just love this comment.
The Gang Suppression Unit should be banned from Belize. The reason being that this unit has earned a terrible reputation for brutality and a callous disregard for the basic human rights of the Belizean citizens. It is understood that the G.S.U were formed to protect the citizens of Belize from crimes and illegal drug consumption, but it is all on how they behave and act. They have abused their authority countless times, talk disrespectful to people, and have carried themselves poorly throughout their formation. On another note, they've also started to take on jobs of other departments without permission such as the A.D.U and Custom Investigations. How much longer can we stand by as these ruthless men continue to take advantage of our human rights? Ask yourself this question.
I must agree with you Cariel. That is one of the major points why many people disagree or even disrespect the G.S.U. The misuse of power by the G.S.U. causes the violation of human rights, and why many people wants the G.S.U. to be disbanded.
Short, sweet, and straight to the point. You couldn't have said it any better. I 100% agree with you. I have witness the GSU in action. A man was minding his own business, buying ice-cream at the shop when the GSU approached him. They searched him and found NOTHING. The man then asking what was the search about, they told him to shut up before they plant something on him and before one of them go home and sleep with his wife. This is the kind of nonsense Belizeans has to endure from these bastards. They indeed should be disband!
The Gang Suppression Unit should be Banned from Belize. I say this because, the unit that should be protecting our country from war zone is actually causing some of these killing and violence in our country. The G.S.U is known to brutalize people and get away with it. Everybody know that. They enjoy beating up man on the street causing them to have evil intentions. People always saying the GSU is doing their job. But like i say, If they were doing their jobs, these senseless killings won't be happening. Everybody fear the GSU, i'm going be honest, i do fear the GSU. if i ever encounter a group of GSU i would automatically drop on the ground and cover my head. The GSU don't have no respect for individuals. They don't have reasoning, understanding, and they dont care about us. I'm not saying they should care about us, but we are human. i mean look at the last video. like come on? Imagine if you and your love one were brutalized like that. what would you say about the GSU? The GSU have made themselves popular on the news for the wrong things. they should be ashamed of themselves.
you said it right richard, the unit was establish to protect the community from dangerous gang activities. Anyone can go to online news outlets and type in the keywords "G.S.U" and the number of good reports compared to the bad reports has a huge difference. clearly they are doing more harm than good.
I agree with you Richard. I believe that yes, they are here for a reaoson. But on the other hand, don't be the reason for some of the crimes, don't go planting bullets at peoles homes because you don't like them. Be a hero in your own country and do what is right to suppress the crime instead of contributing to it.
i honestly think that the GSU should be disband because the damage they are doing is turning Belize into a war zone. people are afraid to even walk the streets. they are disrespectful. countless times i have witness them torturing innocent people on their way to their destination, either to work, to the shop, to school or home.bursting in people houses causing damage to property and leaving the people of Belize traumatized.if you are not being thrown in the back of the mobile, you are at the station being beaten until you say what they want to hear even if it is not the truth.
Well i have a question for you. Have you been assaulted by the GSU? If you know you did wrong, why develop a negativity against someone who is trying to help you? We are quick to judge instead of finding solutions or getting the full story. hence i disagree with you.
I strongly disagree! The city isnt turning into a war zone because of the GSU. The GSU is only doing their jobs. If they left the criminals to do what they're doing you kow what Belize would be like? Not a war zone, it would be a entire cemetery because we would have a whole lot more dead people. The people of Belize are traumatized about the men committing the crimes and all the murders happening. You know what Belize would be like if there was no strong police system in our country. Food for thought. I disagree with your comment though.
You have some strong points there Ms. Wade and i agree with you 100%. Because the GSU tense to use their advance training as a mean to hurt innocent people of our county. The GSU treats us like were not human being and its like they doesn't consider them self of also having love one's that they will never want others to hurt.
The GSU are doing their job. So that leaves us with the duty to do ours, which is abiding by by the law. Leading us to conclusion safety. There are murderers, rapist, child molesters, drug trafficking, and the list goes on about these terrible people right in our community. so its either or. We are to choose, GSU or gangs?
I echo this opinion. They are many factors that can strengthen the effects the GSU can have on crimes, and we as the public are one of the main ones. The entire justice system has to be synchronized, thier has to be synergy. The forensics needs major improvements to solidify evidence and promote a higher conviction rate. Arrest by the GSU needs to be synonymous to the conviction rates and not as dismal as it currently is. The GSU are outnumbered significantly by people willing enough to commit crimes, they are spread too thin to be as effective as they can be. The public can sway these numbers by joining the GSU side and support them, aiding them in the apprehension and removal of these parasites from the streets.
The GSU should not be disband because of their professional training. The police officers who are a part of the GSU have innovative training that is needed to carry out their duties and operations. They received training with the FBI Anti-Gang Task Force in the US(7 News Belize, . This certifies that the GSU are qualified to undertake the job of getting criminals off the streets of Belize. The officers must train and continue to train so that they perform at the highest level when they are dealing with their jobs because they would be able to make the level of success that they want to achieve at the end of the day. Therefore, the GSU should not be abolished due to the fact that they have advanced training to deal with these specific situations. Secondly, , the GSU need to be aggressive to some of the criminals to co-operate with them in order to discover illegal substances. By doing this, more illegal substances are found which actually lowers crime in Belize. The GSU made numerous and huge bursts of marijuana, cocaine, guns and other illegal weapons. When these bursts are broadcasted by the various media houses, the officers of the GSU use masks to protect their identity from the gangs that are affected by these bursts. Due to the bursts, the criminals do not transport or possess illegal substances. Therefore, the crime rate deteriorates. Reference: Inside the GSU. (2011, April 6) 7 News Belize. Retrieved from http://www.7newsbelize.com/sstory.php?nid=19386
I was once asked if I was a police officer because of me asking too much question. Know GSU is a unit in the police department that help to up hold the law and reduce crime. Disbanding this unit will be the worst mistake our government will every make. Why? Without this unit it would be a worst war zone against crime. The crime committed by the youths specifically from the south side of Belize City is prone to happen because of the poverty level in that area. Now if the government would stop attack problems from one sided or for one year and then stop. This is not a quick fix solution. The same way these problems took to come about we will have to work three time harder for them to work out eventually. While being out of school I always wander why the crime is so high in Belize. After attending the Kick off for the second time I notice that we are not concern about the governance of our school. I don’t know if we created our own red herring or it was cause by the system. What we do in here is the same we are going to do out there or worse. Know take the police out of the equation we can’t control our self then we have kid our kid can’t control them self what u end up with in my view two negative. Now if we would learn to do the right things we might not need the GSU because them we would be saving our tax payers money for some thing constructive
The Government of Belize should NOT disband the GSU. The GSU is being placed in our society to protect our citizens both young and old and even the in between from all the crimes in our country. Belize desperately needs a strong security system to deal with the criminals and also to deal with all the illegal things going on and the GSU are the right ones for it. If the Government would disband the GSU, then that will just be a gate way for well known criminals to be on a rage and murders would be at an even higher ranking. Yes, the GSU sometimes brutalize and mistreat citizens of the city, however they dont do these to just anyone. Some of the men that get brutalize and mistreated really and truly deserve it, but then again there's a limit to everything. Without the GSU, our city will be flooded with blood and angry people that are looking for an easy way out to get away with another crime. I say YES to the GSU all the way.
The GSU should not be disbanded.Yes I do agree that they could used a bit of refurbishing in regards to public relations. The GSU, for what its worth, is Belize last line of defense against the heinous acts of violent crimes, gangs relations and drug trafficking. For far too long the Belizeans citizens have been imprisoned in their own homes in fear of being in public places, being vulnerable to be preyed on. Can we have a more functional and respected unit to defend us and free us from this tyranny the public seems to defined them as? The answer is yes, but until we have that replacement, then a disbanded is way more extreme than their presence, and to simply put it, Belize can not afford any absence of suppression against crimes. Crimes and violence affects us all in some form, it could be directly or indirectly, but still it affects us. The psychological restraint the high crimes levels have on us to participate or indulge ourselves in public activities has made us hermits. It is then safe to say that the GSU is returning that favor to the criminals, putting psychological pressure on them as the shy away to their hiding places. If this trend continues, with the public support, we will regain our mental and physical freedom and restore Belize to its original atmosphere.
The G.S.U should be disbanded because their abuse of power, professionalism and lack of any kind of ethics. If we look at the news and other media outlets you will notice that majority of the reports are of the unit being overly harsh against regular citizens. The other small amount of reports are about the G.S.U finding some weed and a couple rusty pistols. This leads to the next point, the G.S.U drive around in huge Ford F150s wearing mask, steel toe boots, bulletproof vest, camouflage uniforms equipped with machine guns, pepper spray, stunners, batons, aluminum bats policing the streets as if they were in a war torn country. This to me is too much and is purely for intimidation and ass kicking reasons when the persons you are trying to arrest hardly have proper footwear and clothing. Then most recently September 17, 2014, three person were killed and 5 injured due to gunshot wounds withing 12hours. this begs the question, where was the G.S.U with all their equipment, high level of training and big bag of intimidation? Crime is a thing that operates solely on a small window of opportunity. They have no chance of knowing who is carrying a gun on them and their intentions. The unit search people on the street based how the are acting and look and the chances do not look for good for minorities. So yes disband the G.S.U and take their funding to fund better more promising units such as the K-9 unit and CIB. More better trained dogs can smell all kinds of drugs and weapons and the CIB are the ones that actually try to solve crimes and get criminals convicted which is the real aim. Not violate some human rights by arbitrary arrest and cruel torture.
I believe that the GSU should be disband because they are causing havok in our country, they are abusive to citizens, and they abuse their power of authority. The Gang Suppression Unit is placed to protect us and lower crime rate in the city, but instead they are contributing to it. According to Gillet (2014), Brandon and Jermaine made a police report that the G.S.U abused them for no apparent reason. This is what drives our Belizeans up the wall and causes them to rebel. What happens to our human rights? The G.S.U has no rights to be abusing our citizens and breaking down their doors with no warrant to do so. That’s just the physical part. What about the verbal and mental abuse? Well, first of all, they have no respect for people. They go about talking to and treating people like we are dogs on the street, like we aren’t worthy enough to be considered a human being. All the verbal and physical abuse by the G.S.U corrupts the people of Belize’s mind. They begin to think what can they do to retaliate and they build up anger inside of them that nobody understands but themselves. The Gang Suppression Unit takes advantage of their position and abuses their power of authority. They know that at the end of the day they will remain at the top so they do as they please. It is understood that they are here for a purpose, but that purpose is not to brutalize our Belizeans and make matters worse. They do not realize that when they brutalize people it’s of a huge cost to the government when taken to court. Back in 2011, after the burial of Charles Woodye, the G.S.U terrorized the residents of George Street Belize City. This matter was taken to court and costs taxpayers $205,000. When will the madness come to an end? I guess until it hits their home then they will realize what they are doing is totally unacceptable. In my opinion, this only has worse to get. Everybody allow them to do all the damage they feel like doing to people as they so desire. They need to be disband. I guess until it hits home for them then they will realize that we are humans and we all have rights as one.
I personally believe that the Government Of Belize should not disband the Gang Suppression Unit (GSU) because the GSU helps in combating violence on the street and they also provide safety through the interdiction of street gang activity. They also investigates cases involving gang related activities in our country as well. I think the GSU are the best because they are useful to our society by enforcing the rules and maintaining law and order. Without the aid of the GSU the streets of Belize would have been more bloody than how its already been.
The Government should disband the G.S.U. because of the reckless endangerment of the public, and the misuse of their given power to do what ever they want, like home invasion without warrant, and arresting individuals without evidence.
ReplyDeleteReading your comment i have seen some important points and I can see that you also knew what you were saying, good job Isaac! You had some strong points.
DeleteI disagree with you. Without the GSU, the people are endangered-by our own neighbors. The GSU, being enforced has helped tremendously in decreasing the crime rate and removing gang affiliates off the streets. As humans we all take advantage of power from time to time. And about the Warrant, the police do it too, why not disband them?
Deletei disagree..the GSU are the only Law Enforcers in the country that has the least corruption. If the GSU is disband who will the citizen depend on? The Police Department is only not enough to protect the country.
DeleteTotally disagree with you Isaac. Remember the G.S.U. specializes in conducting special operations rather than calling it (home invasion) that busts criminals and their illegal transactions. If this is not done; how do you expect drugs, firearms and ammunition from reaching our youths. Parks (2014) tabulated, sentenced to five years in prison was convicted Lucius Myers for unlicensed ammunition and firearms (para.1). So as you can see Isaac, these so called home invasion revealed what someone should not be on possession of for the sake of what they use them for.
DeleteI couldn't agree with you more Isaac. I personally believe that the G.S.U are reckless in regards to their actions. I have seen for myself countless situations where they have disrespected and abuse innocent people. They also take great advantage of their power, whereas they've participated in unauthorized conductions.
Deletei AGREE FULLY THAT THEY ABUSE THEIR POWER.
DeleteThe GSU at times need to 'abuse their power' as you say because some of these criminals or assumed criminals are very unruly to the officers when they are doing their inspections and searches.
DeleteThe Government of Belize should disband the G.S.U. because of their violence towards Belizeans, home invasion without warrant. They also use their power to abduct civilians off the streets and to place them in the station for no necessary reason. I also think G.S.U take their advance training as an advantage to hurt innocent people of our country.
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree with you Monisha about the home invasion without a search warrant. To add to your post. i believe that there is no way the GSU should just invade someone's house without a warrant. If the GSU want to search a home, they should follow procedure in doing so. For example, if they suspect that someone's home might have drugs hidden or guns, they should do it the right way and the right way is to go to magistrate and ask for a search warrant to search x y z home's because they suspect they might have drugs or guns hidden. not just go and broke down people's door and search home without a search warrant.
DeleteYou have some strong points there, but I must say I disagree with your opinion about disbanding the G.S.U. they take people who have a possibility of committing a crime, That is call crime prevention. Have you ever seen how the G.S.U react to respectable and presentable people? They show back respect, how about the reaction of the G.S.U to the ones who shout at them and sag their pants and get offended if they are asked questions? as the elderly would say " they get what they deserve".
Deletei disagree as well. i believe if you dress and carry yourself as a potential criminal then they should try to prevent it. the company you keep can also make you a target. what do you do when you don't want a flu, don't do things to catch it right? well as for this situation you should not do the things to be classed as a potential criminal.
DeleteI don't share the same opinion as you do on this matter. Evil do exist in all of us, and even if both sides of the coin are evil, the lesser of the two evils is still the GSU. The criminals should not win this battle, if they do we all lose. The GSU cannot stand alone in this matter, they need our help, they need our support, we need their presence.
DeleteI disagree with you about disbanding the GSU. Which innocent civilians are they hurting? The only individuals i see the GSU going after are the same ones committing the crime. The correct one. Its so easy for us to say they haven't done investigations. Just because someone gets on the news complaining. We aren't there when the GSU are having meeting or planning raid. Belizeans use to complain that no one is standing up and doing something about crime and now that the GSU is trying to protect the innocent Belizeans are complaining.
DeleteThe government of Belize should not disband the gang suppression unit because one of their main tasks is making sure major gang affiliations and drug distributions do not spread to other areas in Belize. They have confiscated more drugs, firearms and ammunitions than ever before. Maybe at times they may handle situations to the extreme but the individuals they are dealing with aren’t innocent children, these are grown people that commit crime on a daily basis without regard for themselves much less of others. Eliminating the GSU will not help the situation; it will only make things worse. Most of the complaints made about the GSU are from the same criminals or people connected to them. These criminals are unhappy because the GSU keep finding all their illegal substances and they would love to go back to the times when they could freely break the law.
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree with you Deborah!
DeleteSuspending the GSU is like opening the freeway to crime and violence land, the land we currently call Belize. They have been doing a wonderful job, and yes they make a few mistakes but why only lament on the little wrong when they have done much more good?
People in Belize just don't like correction.
You have some strong points there Deborah, I totally agree you as well. the G.S.U have done more that all the different police force we've ever had. No offence to no one but I think only people that wants the G.S.U to be disband are those who benefit from the gangs or are affiliated with the gangs. and you're right they're just mad because they cant do their illegal activities. But thanks to human rights the criminals have more rights that the innocent Belizeans.
DeleteI totally agree with you Deborah. Mainly focusing on the distribution of the drugs within the country. Its so sad to see our younger generation at the corner smoking a joint of weed. Without the G.S.U. these drugs would be easier to reach destroying our youths who are the future for our nation. A search conducted by the G.S.U. at George Price Avenue yielded 4.6 pounds of weed (Ali, 2014, para.1). We can say that without the G.S.U. in place, this drug would have never been ceased and further being in our streets ready to be sold.
DeleteI agree with you 100%. These criminals even go to the extreme and make false allegations against the officers of the GSU.
DeleteThe government of Belize should not disband the Gang Suppression Unit. Reason being, they are a special unit from the Belize Police Department, specialized to respond to crime and violence within the country. It is factual that for the four years they have been enforced they have aided drastically in the decreasing of the crime and violence rate. The first video states exactly what the rates are for the years 2011-2013 for their magnificent work. The GSU Officers are not saints or aliens, they are humans just like you and I. Therefore, they too will falter. There will come times where they may talk to rough, hit too hard, push to far or whatever are the complaints. But I will ask, are you there to really see the full background of the complaints they are broadcasting? Many a times Belizeans fail to realize there is a way to do things and the minute one tries to go on their own route things become chaotic. Resisting to follow the commands of a GSU Officer will definitely result in that officer becoming rough, and then we complain that they are brutal. Simple things like a body search being done on the street, people tend to rant about instead of just agreeing to it since they claim they are so innocent and have nothing illegal on them. The GSU is being sponsored partially by the US. Therefore, they will be taught to be 'rough'-cold, hard and tear-less. We all know how foreign military personnel act. They are trained to invade without warrant and people just go along with it. That's how the GSU are being trained. Besides, GSU will not kick down someone's door unless the person refuses to open it.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the day, the government disbanding the GSU now doesn't not assure us that it won't be re-enforced by a new government if not the current one, just under a different name. It has been proven that that is what occurs. Since the year, 1986, 5 units have been enforced and complained about, 'disbanded and changed' (more like just the name and Head Officer changes). This is an ongoing process in the country because the people do not like correction. We like living like animals and even the animals live more peaceful than us.
The GSU has been do a great job, the rates have dropped, although not as fast as we probably would like, but they have. Removing them will give way for a rapid increase in violence, drug and munition trafficking.
Kudos to the Gang Suppression Unit.
-In time things get better, but we must work together-
100% Agree with you! Your point about the GSU not breaking down doors unless the individuals refuses to open it is spot on. I know because i have a cousin that was in that situation. When she was hanging out with some of her friends the GSU knocked on the door and identified themselves. She said she got frightened because all of a sudden everyone started running, trying to get out and that's when the officers broke down the door! I know several people that have been ADU and are in the GSU and they always speak about how much Belizeans are unaware of the type of resistance these criminals have. And how shocking it is that some would choose to believe what the criminals have to say rather the officers that are risking their lives trying to make Belize a safer and better place.
Deletei strongly agree..without the GSU the country would be at a red-zone condition.
DeleteThe Gang Suppression Unit also known as the Death Squad. In April 2010, The Gang Suppression Unit was formed, as a special unit of The Police Department. It was an initiative part of the restore Belize Project. (Gang Suppression Unit, 2012). The Gang Suppression Unit should not be disbanded from Belize as the crack Drug Ring Operations they also yield substantial results with the least corruption in their operations. This Special Unit is essential for Belize.
ReplyDeleteThe Gang Suppression Unit of Belize has rehabilitated the rate significally over the years since their formation. A reported drug bust was conducted by The Gang Suppression Unit that yield 24.4Kg of hybrid cannabis and led to the arrest of the person involved. (R, Trujillo. 2014). The removal of illegal drugs expands the safety of our local community, making citizen feel more at ease and nonviolent. The Gang Suppression Unit is the power house who guarantees drug bust occurs frequently.
According to (H, Gayle. 2010) the result of neglect is cause by the corruption in the Police Department of Belize. The Belizean Citizen states "they caution the Police Force" (W, C, Ramos. 2010). The Police Department has been known to the public as tainted. They have been many cases with the police department for bribery. The Gang Suppression Unit however was formed under the Project of renovating Belize. (Gang Suppression Unit. 2012) Without the Gang suppression Unit the citizen of Belize will not have any law enforcers to trust and depend on, since the Police Department is known to be corrupted.
The Gang Suppression Unit should not be dispersed because they reduce the drug trafficking in Belize and also they are less dishonored when carrying out their operations compared to the Police Department. The G.S.U is essential to Belize because they help in restoring the country.
Disbanding the G.S.U. is like having a house without locked doors, a gun with an empty barrel, a country without protection. The G.S.U. helps incarcerate those criminals out there disturbing our piece and endangering our lives. Why disband the only ones we can trust on to stop the brutal crimes they commit. News back in the days reported of at least 1-2 crimes happening every single day; now you hear of 1-2 crimes happening in a weeks time and that is because of the G.S.U. in place. Crime cant fully be stopped but with them in place surely we are safer than ever before.
ReplyDeleteHey Lawrence, well I believe that you are both wrong and right in your opinion. I understand that the G.S.U has served justice by placing many of the criminals in prison and have had the citizens of Belize rest peacefully. However, it is not so much what their job entails but how they go about doing it. People don't trust them, simply because of how they behave towards us as the citizens of Belize and how they abuse their power. Crime has never stopped, and as you said it never fully will. But while these ruthless criminals who have consumed countless drugs and are out here presently killing one another, the G.S.U believe that it is not their place to do anything if "the opportunity is not there." The mentality they obtain is discouraging. Mabye the government of Belize shouldn't band the G.S.U because this department HAS helped, I must admit. But they should regard either training these men properly on how to behave or hiring completely new men to take over who obtain a more realistic and justifying mentality.
Deletewill i would dis agree as if u look at only the bad things they do then you could expect that but looking at the full picture then you would see that they do have some good they do. if we look at the people they deal with are not as nice like gangs and high end criminals and if you would like to look at them roughing up the youths of the street then look at what they are use too.
DeleteThe G.S.U. should not be disband since they are the only unit in the country that undertakes risky measures to combat gang related activity in our country. They are the only ones out there risking their lives infiltrating themselves in the so called (ghost town and George Street) to fight against the gang members and conducting special operations. No other unit in the country would dear go into these places because they no the risks they are getting into. I can say that this is the only unit the gang members would show a little of their fear and stop any illegal activity when they are around. The G.S.U. is the only defense we have and their doing a great job.
ReplyDeleteI STRONGLY AGREE with you Lawrence!! Without this super security system Belize would be upside down and I wouldn't want to live her anymore. They are doing their jobs and I just love this comment.
DeleteThe Gang Suppression Unit should be banned from Belize. The reason being that this unit has earned a terrible reputation for brutality and a callous disregard for the basic human rights of the Belizean citizens. It is understood that the G.S.U were formed to protect the citizens of Belize from crimes and illegal drug consumption, but it is all on how they behave and act. They have abused their authority countless times, talk disrespectful to people, and have carried themselves poorly throughout their formation. On another note, they've also started to take on jobs of other departments without permission such as the A.D.U and Custom Investigations. How much longer can we stand by as these ruthless men continue to take advantage of our human rights? Ask yourself this question.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you Cariel. Your're on point. The GSU don't investigate they only intimidate.
DeleteI must agree with you Cariel. That is one of the major points why many people disagree or even disrespect the G.S.U. The misuse of power by the G.S.U. causes the violation of human rights, and why many people wants the G.S.U. to be disbanded.
DeleteShort, sweet, and straight to the point. You couldn't have said it any better. I 100% agree with you. I have witness the GSU in action. A man was minding his own business, buying ice-cream at the shop when the GSU approached him. They searched him and found NOTHING. The man then asking what was the search about, they told him to shut up before they plant something on him and before one of them go home and sleep with his wife.
DeleteThis is the kind of nonsense Belizeans has to endure from these bastards. They indeed should be disband!
The Gang Suppression Unit should be Banned from Belize. I say this because, the unit that should be protecting our country from war zone is actually causing some of these killing and violence in our country. The G.S.U is known to brutalize people and get away with it. Everybody know that. They enjoy beating up man on the street causing them to have evil intentions. People always saying the GSU is doing their job. But like i say, If they were doing their jobs, these senseless killings won't be happening. Everybody fear the GSU, i'm going be honest, i do fear the GSU. if i ever encounter a group of GSU i would automatically drop on the ground and cover my head. The GSU don't have no respect for individuals. They don't have reasoning, understanding, and they dont care about us. I'm not saying they should care about us, but we are human. i mean look at the last video. like come on? Imagine if you and your love one were brutalized like that. what would you say about the GSU? The GSU have made themselves popular on the news for the wrong things. they should be ashamed of themselves.
ReplyDeletei agree with you fully richard they are not protecting us they are hurting us.
Deleteyou said it right richard, the unit was establish to protect the community from dangerous gang activities. Anyone can go to online news outlets and type in the keywords "G.S.U" and the number of good reports compared to the bad reports has a huge difference. clearly they are doing more harm than good.
DeleteI agree with you Richard. I believe that yes, they are here for a reaoson. But on the other hand, don't be the reason for some of the crimes, don't go planting bullets at peoles homes because you don't like them. Be a hero in your own country and do what is right to suppress the crime instead of contributing to it.
Deletei honestly think that the GSU should be disband because the damage they are doing is turning Belize into a war zone. people are afraid to even walk the streets. they are disrespectful. countless times i have witness them torturing innocent people on their way to their destination, either to work, to the shop, to school or home.bursting in people houses causing damage to property and leaving the people of Belize traumatized.if you are not being thrown in the back of the mobile, you are at the station being beaten until you say what they want to hear even if it is not the truth.
ReplyDeleteWell i have a question for you. Have you been assaulted by the GSU? If you know you did wrong, why develop a negativity against someone who is trying to help you? We are quick to judge instead of finding solutions or getting the full story. hence i disagree with you.
DeleteI strongly disagree! The city isnt turning into a war zone because of the GSU. The GSU is only doing their jobs. If they left the criminals to do what they're doing you kow what Belize would be like? Not a war zone, it would be a entire cemetery because we would have a whole lot more dead people. The people of Belize are traumatized about the men committing the crimes and all the murders happening. You know what Belize would be like if there was no strong police system in our country. Food for thought. I disagree with your comment though.
DeleteYou have some strong points there Ms. Wade and i agree with you 100%. Because the GSU tense to use their advance training as a mean to hurt innocent people of our county. The GSU treats us like were not human being and its like they doesn't consider them self of also having love one's that they will never want others to hurt.
ReplyDeleteThe GSU are doing their job. So that leaves us with the duty to do ours, which is abiding by by the law. Leading us to conclusion safety. There are murderers, rapist, child molesters, drug trafficking, and the list goes on about these terrible people right in our community. so its either or. We are to choose, GSU or gangs?
ReplyDeleteI echo this opinion. They are many factors that can strengthen the effects the GSU can have on crimes, and we as the public are one of the main ones. The entire justice system has to be synchronized, thier has to be synergy. The forensics needs major improvements to solidify evidence and promote a higher conviction rate. Arrest by the GSU needs to be synonymous to the conviction rates and not as dismal as it currently is.
DeleteThe GSU are outnumbered significantly by people willing enough to commit crimes, they are spread too thin to be as effective as they can be. The public can sway these numbers by joining the GSU side and support them, aiding them in the apprehension and removal of these parasites from the streets.
The GSU should not be disband because of their professional training. The police officers who are a part of the GSU have innovative training that is needed to carry out their duties and operations. They received training with the FBI Anti-Gang Task Force in the US(7 News Belize, . This certifies that the GSU are qualified to undertake the job of getting criminals off the streets of Belize. The officers must train and continue to train so that they perform at the highest level when they are dealing with their jobs because they would be able to make the level of success that they want to achieve at the end of the day. Therefore, the GSU should not be abolished due to the fact that they have advanced training to deal with these specific situations.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, , the GSU need to be aggressive to some of the criminals to co-operate with them in order to discover illegal substances. By doing this, more illegal substances are found which actually lowers crime in Belize. The GSU made numerous and huge bursts of marijuana, cocaine, guns and other illegal weapons. When these bursts are broadcasted by the various media houses, the officers of the GSU use masks to protect their identity from the gangs that are affected by these bursts. Due to the bursts, the criminals do not transport or possess illegal substances. Therefore, the crime rate deteriorates.
Reference:
Inside the GSU. (2011, April 6) 7 News Belize. Retrieved from http://www.7newsbelize.com/sstory.php?nid=19386
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ReplyDeleteI was once asked if I was a police officer because of me asking too much question. Know GSU is a unit in the police department that help to up hold the law and reduce crime. Disbanding this unit will be the worst mistake our government will every make. Why? Without this unit it would be a worst war zone against crime. The crime committed by the youths specifically from the south side of Belize City is prone to happen because of the poverty level in that area. Now if the government would stop attack problems from one sided or for one year and then stop. This is not a quick fix solution. The same way these problems took to come about we will have to work three time harder for them to work out eventually. While being out of school I always wander why the crime is so high in Belize. After attending the Kick off for the second time I notice that we are not concern about the governance of our school. I don’t know if we created our own red herring or it was cause by the system. What we do in here is the same we are going to do out there or worse. Know take the police out of the equation we can’t control our self then we have kid our kid can’t control them self what u end up with in my view two negative. Now if we would learn to do the right things we might not need the GSU because them we would be saving our tax payers money for some thing constructive
ReplyDeleteThe Government of Belize should NOT disband the GSU. The GSU is being placed in our society to protect our citizens both young and old and even the in between from all the crimes in our country. Belize desperately needs a strong security system to deal with the criminals and also to deal with all the illegal things going on and the GSU are the right ones for it. If the Government would disband the GSU, then that will just be a gate way for well known criminals to be on a rage and murders would be at an even higher ranking. Yes, the GSU sometimes brutalize and mistreat citizens of the city, however they dont do these to just anyone. Some of the men that get brutalize and mistreated really and truly deserve it, but then again there's a limit to everything. Without the GSU, our city will be flooded with blood and angry people that are looking for an easy way out to get away with another crime. I say YES to the GSU all the way.
ReplyDeleteThe GSU should not be disbanded.Yes I do agree that they could used a bit of refurbishing in regards to public relations. The GSU, for what its worth, is Belize last line of defense against the heinous acts of violent crimes, gangs relations and drug trafficking. For far too long the Belizeans citizens have been imprisoned in their own homes in fear of being in public places, being vulnerable to be preyed on. Can we have a more functional and respected unit to defend us and free us from this tyranny the public seems to defined them as? The answer is yes, but until we have that replacement, then a disbanded is way more extreme than their presence, and to simply put it, Belize can not afford any absence of suppression against crimes. Crimes and violence affects us all in some form, it could be directly or indirectly, but still it affects us. The psychological restraint the high crimes levels have on us to participate or indulge ourselves in public activities has made us hermits. It is then safe to say that the GSU is returning that favor to the criminals, putting psychological pressure on them as the shy away to their hiding places. If this trend continues, with the public support, we will regain our mental and physical freedom and restore Belize to its original atmosphere.
ReplyDeleteThe G.S.U should be disbanded because their abuse of power, professionalism and lack of any kind of ethics. If we look at the news and other media outlets you will notice that majority of the reports are of the unit being overly harsh against regular citizens. The other small amount of reports are about the G.S.U finding some weed and a couple rusty pistols. This leads to the next point, the G.S.U drive around in huge Ford F150s wearing mask, steel toe boots, bulletproof vest, camouflage uniforms equipped with machine guns, pepper spray, stunners, batons, aluminum bats policing the streets as if they were in a war torn country. This to me is too much and is purely for intimidation and ass kicking reasons when the persons you are trying to arrest hardly have proper footwear and clothing. Then most recently September 17, 2014, three person were killed and 5 injured due to gunshot wounds withing 12hours. this begs the question, where was the G.S.U with all their equipment, high level of training and big bag of intimidation? Crime is a thing that operates solely on a small window of opportunity. They have no chance of knowing who is carrying a gun on them and their intentions. The unit search people on the street based how the are acting and look and the chances do not look for good for minorities. So yes disband the G.S.U and take their funding to fund better more promising units such as the K-9 unit and CIB. More better trained dogs can smell all kinds of drugs and weapons and the CIB are the ones that actually try to solve crimes and get criminals convicted which is the real aim. Not violate some human rights by arbitrary arrest and cruel torture.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the GSU should be disband because they are causing havok in our country, they are abusive to citizens, and they abuse their power of authority.
ReplyDeleteThe Gang Suppression Unit is placed to protect us and lower crime rate in the city, but instead they are contributing to it. According to Gillet (2014), Brandon and Jermaine made a police report that the G.S.U abused them for no apparent reason. This is what drives our Belizeans up the wall and causes them to rebel. What happens to our human rights? The G.S.U has no rights to be abusing our citizens and breaking down their doors with no warrant to do so. That’s just the physical part. What about the verbal and mental abuse? Well, first of all, they have no respect for people. They go about talking to and treating people like we are dogs on the street, like we aren’t worthy enough to be considered a human being. All the verbal and physical abuse by the G.S.U corrupts the people of Belize’s mind. They begin to think what can they do to retaliate and they build up anger inside of them that nobody understands but themselves.
The Gang Suppression Unit takes advantage of their position and abuses their power of authority. They know that at the end of the day they will remain at the top so they do as they please. It is understood that they are here for a purpose, but that purpose is not to brutalize our Belizeans and make matters worse. They do not realize that when they brutalize people it’s of a huge cost to the government when taken to court. Back in 2011, after the burial of Charles Woodye, the G.S.U terrorized the residents of George Street Belize City. This matter was taken to court and costs taxpayers $205,000. When will the madness come to an end? I guess until it hits their home then they will realize what they are doing is totally unacceptable.
In my opinion, this only has worse to get. Everybody allow them to do all the damage they feel like doing to people as they so desire. They need to be disband. I guess until it hits home for them then they will realize that we are humans and we all have rights as one.
I personally believe that the Government Of Belize should not disband the Gang Suppression Unit (GSU) because the GSU helps in combating violence on the street and they also provide safety through the interdiction of street gang activity. They also investigates cases involving gang related activities in our country as well. I think the GSU are the best because they are useful to our society by enforcing the rules and maintaining law and order. Without the aid of the GSU the streets of Belize would have been more bloody than how its already been.
ReplyDelete