Assistant Superintendent of Police at the San Pedro Police Department, ASP Luis Castellanos admits that burglary is the most pressing issue in San Pedro, Ambergris Caye, having the highest recorded incidents compared to all other major crimes on the island.
This week ASP Castellanos presented June statistics from his department that show an increase in burglary on the island in the past couple of months, even compared to June 2012. There were 14 burglaries reported in the month of June 2013, 58 over all since the beginning of the year. There were 38 reported burglaries from January to June in 2012. All other major crimes reported to the department have gone down or stayed the same, including murder, rape, robbery, theft, and carnal knowledge.
As for the increase in burglary, ASP Castellanos, mentioned that his department is taking a pro active initiative in tackling the problem. One of his major focuses has been in dividing the island into four sectors (view above image) and assigning a commanding officer to each; this, he stated, makes for better response, reporting and controlling at the different areas on the island.
Another focus has been on increasing the presence on the Tourism Police Unit beach patrols. Just last week the unit conducted major patrols throughout the island and targeted peddlers and vagrants which resulted in a great sweep of unwanted loiterers. ASP Castellanos is gathering as much data from his departments records in order to properly device a plan to tackle the burglary issue. The records show a larger incidence of burglary in North Ambergris Caye (including Journey’s End and the Mile 4 Marker) and areas in town that include Boca del Rio, San Pedrito, Pecador Drive and Angel Coral Street.
ASP Castellanos told Ambergris Today that he is scouring all his resources and working in reducing this increase in burglary in Ambergris Caye. He stated that any assistance from the community is most welcome and reminds everybody to report any crime to the police.
