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He started with the grim news of this year's murder statistics so far:..

ACP Elodio Aragon, O/C Eastern Division
"At this point in time I can tell you that we have 133 murders countrywide compare to last year which we had at the end of December 124. In Belize City in specific we have presently 72 murders that we have recorded and last year at the end of December we had 71."

Jules Vasquez reporting
That means Belize City accounts for 56% of the murders nationally. With these record figures, police are hoping a Christmas crackdown can keep it from getting worse:

ACP Elodio Aragon, O/C Eastern Division
"We understand the fact that people out there especially the criminals are looking at ways to commit crime to make money. I want to assure the general public that this Christmas we are working very diligently and vigilantly to ensure that they have a safe and secure Christmas. I am confident that that will be the case."

There are stepped up patrols and an increased presence in the city:

ACP Elodio Aragon, O/C Eastern Division
"The order is calling for more of our officers - we are talking about our staff personnel - all our officers who are working staff to come out and do additional duties in the evening - in the hours that we have identified where we need to be and have a presence on the streets. We have an extraneous program taking place where police officers willing to contribute additional hours for extra pay are being done."

"I can tell you that our presence out there has increase and if anybody walks out there especially in these priority areas that we have designated we would see police officers out there. Some of these areas are Albert and Orange Street - all these shopping areas."

But police are again turning to the public for assistance.

ACP Elodio Aragon, O/C Eastern Division
"We as the police department are responsible for crime but so is the public responsible to assist us in reducing crime and a number of ways the public can assist us are 1) foremost and very important to us is for the general public to report crime. It is for the general public to pick up the phone and call 911 in regards to suspicious characters or any suspicious things that they see out there while they are going about their daily business."

"I am asking the general public to give us a call. We have our 911 operators standing by to receive those calls and to immediate dispatch police officers to look into that situation."

"We are also asking the general public to understand that during this festive period there are a lot of public drinking that takes place and the Belize Police Department will strictly enforce public drinking; will strictly enforce the laws that govern drunk driving."

The 74 murders in the city so far for 2012, puts the murder rate for the City at and an astonishing projected figure of about 140 persons per one hundred thousand residents.

Now, according to the 2012 census there are only 53 thousand residents in the City - so that's why we say the figure is projected.