Yesterday we told you about the pushback on the Southside kids curfew imposed by police commander Chester Williams. There are concerns in the social services and child support sector that the result will be kids detained by police, a formula which is known to trigger its own adverse consequences. It also contravenes the Convention on the Rights of the Child - to which Belize is a signatory.
But, Williams says he's simply enforcing the law. Now we've already told you about the Section 116 subsection 1 under the Families and Children act, which makes provision to place children under emergency protection for a period of no more than 48 hours. But ACP Williams also pointed out a law from 1999, which imposes a standing curfew for children in Belize City. It says "any person who, being the parent or guardian of a child, allows or suffers such child to loiter, wander or be in in a street park or other public place in Belize City between the hours of 8:00 pm and 6:00 am, unaccompanied by a parent or guardian commits an offence."
Williams hopes to use this law next week when he takes on UNICEF, which we are told opposes the curfew.
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