Good Day Everyone,

I hope you are having a wonderful day in beautiful Placencia. I am very pleased to say that the Placencia Village Council has a wonderful, dedicated team and I believe that we can accomplish many positive changes and hopefully get the ball rolling in the right direction for future generations.

I would like to take this opportunity to touch on a specific subject matter that has been plaguing our Peninsula for quite some time now and that plague is crime.

For too many years there have been a growing gap between residents of Placencia and the Police Department and this gap has made it easier for criminals to prey on law abiding citizens, their homes and businesses.

Crime does not only take a toll on citizens and their businesses with only their personal belongings; it also takes a toll on our community’s image and reputation as a safe destination. Image and reputation is extremely important for not only an individual or a business, it is also important for a community and in our case a Tourism Oriented Community. The damage to our image can and will cause adverse effects and cause a chain reaction in the sense that less tourists to our area means less rooms filled at hotels, less rooms filled means less tourists doing tours, eating at restaurants, going out at night to enjoy the night life et al; it effects us all on many different levels.

This is the reason why I am taking the crime situation on our Peninsula very seriously and putting it on the top of my agenda.

The first logical step is to close the gap between the Police Department and the Residents of Placencia; without closing this gap, I believe any other effort would be futile.

One of the first steps made is to ask for assistance from the community, especially the business community. The reason for this is that the Police Department in our area have only so much resources from Central Government and as a community, I believe we have to make that extra effort to help the Police Department in fulfilling their duties and keeping our community safe, but also holding the Police Department responsible and accountable when they are slacking in their duties – this has got to be a two way street.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the businesses/individuals that have assisted the Police Department via the Placencia Village Council. This is only a first step; but a big step and I want to stress that this will have to be an ongoing, perpetual effort. Without further ado a Big Thank You to:

Destinations Belize, Platinum Designs, Belize TradeWinds Cruise Club Ltd., JAGZ Auto Rental & Property Management, Belgian Café, Whipray Caye Lodge, TuttiFrutti Ice Cream Parlor, Rumfish y vino, Danube Austrian Restaurant, The Maine Stay & Kokomo, Lydia's Guest House, Blue Crab Beach & Goss Chocolate, Laru Beya Villas, Wendy’s Creole Restaurant & Bar, The Moorings Belize Ltd, Westwind Hotel, Roberts Grove, & Chabil Mar Villas.

Best regards,

Charles Leslie Jr.
Chairman
Placencia Village Council