Neighborhood Watch Membership Drive

On Sunday, June 13, the newly formed San Pablo/San Marcos Neighborhood Watch hosted a membership drive at the Catholic Church in San Pablo to encourage neighbors to get together and support each other in the fight against crime in their community.

There was lots of good food, cold drinks, and fun had by all. Thanks to everyone who donated a dish for the pot luck. Thanks also to our generous sponsors for their raffle prize donations (Carts Belize, Javi’s Store, Ms. Sara’s Kitchen, The Rum, Cigar & Coffee Shop, Sausage Factory, Scotia Bank, Tacogirl.com). If you live in the San Pablo or San Marcos neighborhoods and would like to join the Neighborhood Watch, please email spsmnw@gmail.com or you can call Jesse Cope - 226-3045, Susan Glaze - 601-7895, or Peter Miron - 226-2669. Remember … there is strength in numbers.

Emergency Neighborhood Watch Meeting

Hon. Manuel Heredia addressed neighborhood watch presidents

Presidents of all the different neighborhood watches on the island sat down at an emergency meeting with Area Representative and Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation and Mayor Elsa Paz yesterday, March 17, to tackle the main issue that is affecting our island at the moment – Crime. A recent crime spree on the island has residents on alert and many neighborhoods in fear. The emergency meeting was called in order to come up with an agenda of important issues of which to present to the Minister of Defense and National Security. Hon. Heredia is to present these issues to his colleagues in Government and the Minister of National Security who will sit down on a private meeting along with all the neighborhood watch presidents that is scheduled to take place next week. Issues on the agenda included: improving the lack of resources of the San Pedro Police Department, a security and patrol plan for the upcoming Easter break, Boosting Belize Defense Force (BDG) personnel on the island, private and professional training for private security officers and monitoring of arrivals at the local water taxi terminals. (More on this in next week’s issue of Ambergris Today Newspaper)

Residents Distraught by Dog Poisonings

Northern residents were distraught to learn that illegal dog poisoning took place late Friday night, January 30 in northern Ambergris Caye that ended up killing at least eight pet dogs and seriously causing another six to become very ill.
The dog poisoning took place around the Tres Cocos Area were someone (or group of people) laced chicken with the insecticide Carbofuran and left for the dogs to eat on the beach and some were apparently thrown into several private yards, including some fenced yards.
The Public Health department was contacted and they confirmed that they were not responsible for the poisonings which leads to the conclusion that it is the work of a criminal. Thus the North Ambergris Neighborhood Watch is offering a $500.00 CASH Reward for information which leads to the arrest of the person or persons responsible for the cruel act. The neighborhood watch urges northern residents to be on the lookout for new or suspicious characters in the area and to notify the police of any unusual activity.
If anyone has any information about this matter, please contact the NACNW or the local police. CONTACT NACNW President Scott Harnish: 661-6353 or nacnw@yahoogroups.com If you think your dog has been poisoned, contact the San Pedro Animal Hospital by phone at: (501) 610-DOGS (3647).

New Neighborhood Watch Meeting

The general public, in particular the residents of the San Pablo and San Marcos Areas, are invited to a Neighborhood Watch meeting tonight, Tuesday, October 13, at 7:30 p.m. at Caribbean Villas. The meeting is in response of the increased crime activity in the area and residents taking action to prevent these crimes from taking place. Please make an extra effort to attend.

Caye Caulker Marches Against Crime

In response to the elevated crime and the recent murder of Lurline Young, the villagers of Caye Caulker participated in a "March Against Crime" that was spearheaded by the Caye Caulker Neighborhood Watch.

The C.C.N.W.P.L has appealed to Hon. Manuel Heredia – Area Representative for Caye Caulker and San Pedro – Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation and Culture; The Belize Tourism Board; the Commissioner of the Police Department – Crispin Jefferies for a full immediate replacement of all members of the Caye Caulker Police Department as they state that “their current Police Department is the worst contingent ever in the history of Caye Caulker. This must be done to safeguard the interests of Caye Caulker’s tourist industry.”

Their message during the protest was to stop the violence, bring justice to the most recent crimes and to make the island a safer place.