And one public official who says he has zero tolerance for corruption is the new Police Minister Elodio Aragon Jr. up until last week when Gaspar Vega resigned from Cabinet, he was the Minister of State in the Ministry of Youth Sports and culture. Prime Minister Dean Barrow moved him to the Ministry of Home Affairs, which puts him in charge of the Police Ministry. Before he entered politics, Aragon himself was a career police officer who left at the rank of Deputy Commissioner, the number 2 cop in the department.
So, he’s well prepared and experienced to handle demands of the police ministry. Yesterday, when we caught him leaving the Cabinet Meeting in Belmopan, we asked him about his thoughts on his new ministerial tasking. Here’s how that conversation went:
Hon. Elodio Aragon - Minister of Police
"My whole career has been policing, it's like coming home but I will tell the public that going back to the police I am going back with a lot of enthusiasm, I'm going with a mind-set that will focus on trying to solve some of our crime issues in this country. It's not an easy task, I think out of all our ministries this is one of the most challenging areas as a minister."
Daniel Ortiz
"From the beginning when you were elected wouldn't this have been the most reasonable and plausible position to put a career officer such as yourself?"
Hon. Elodio Aragon - Minister of Police
"Well it all depends on how you look at it. Definitely we had a senior minister who had been holding this portfolio for quite some time. I do think that being at the ministry of youth, sports and culture was an opportune ministry likewise in terms that I could directly influence upon our young people."
"Shooting, shooting is a major aspect of our problems in our society in terms of gun violence etc. and of course which results in murder and I think these are some of the areas I want to focus on. Corruption is another area I mean a lot of our Belizean people are complaining about our officers on the ground working check points etc. and you hear all the stories out there but we need to verify these things and we have to ensure that we put mechanism in place that will target police officers who are corrupt. We want to put the systems in place that will ensure that our citizens also abide by the laws."
Daniel Ortiz
"Do you think the police officers from whom you once were will receive you with open arms?"
Hon. Elodio Aragon - Minister of Police
"You know I am not too worried about how they will receive me. I'm quite sure that my time within the police department has set a good foundation for me with all police officers. They know what I stand for, they know what I believe in and they know that I'm looking for good stuff in terms of getting the police department to where it should be."
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