Crooks Report


The Crooks Report, officially A Review of the Belize Police Department, is a 2008 green paper on policing in Belize, written by Harold Crooks, and commissioned by the interior ministry of Belize. It was released in full by early 2010. The report is notable for having been endorsed by the Ministry and Police Department, despite the heavy criticism it contained, and despite subsequent criticisms regarding the lack of progress on the implementation of its recommendations.

Background

The 1980s saw the rise of gangs in Belize, introduced by US deportees and especially adopted by locals upon the release of Colors. This was followed by an alarming wave of violent crime which only worsened in the 2000s. Thus prompted, the Police Department started proposing and adopting a number of novel measures aimed at curbing the violence. By 10 April 2008, the Department's governing body commissioned Harold Crooks, a Jamaican consultant, to review their progress so far, and to identify appropriate steps not yet taken. Crooks elaborated their report over a six-month period from 2 June, and presented it to the Minister, Carlos Perdomo, on 30 November 2008.

Contents

The Report is very critical of the Department's capacity to implement their own self-imposed measures, partly because they were very ambitious, and partly because the Department had very little in way of accountability, and very much in the way of corruption. The Report makes 167 recommendations for policing reform, presented in nine sections spanning 174 pages.
According to Carlos Barrachina and Alejandro Monjaraz, the Report's recommended measures regarding professionalisation were 'the most important,' noting it 'clearly indicates the need' to standardise and modernise police training, practice, and advancement. According to Jennifer Peirce and Alexandre Veyrat-Pontet, the Report showed the 'police force needs to be better equipped and trained and more effectively deployed,' underscoring the 'added challenges and complexities brought on by transnational crime dynamics, increased drug trafficking, and youth gang dynamics' which traditional community policing was 'not equipped to overcome.' According to Raymond Shepherd, the Report most significantly identified and recommended a myriad sorely needed improvements to human capital.

Responses

Upon the Report's presentation, News 5 noted it 'blasted the police and should serve as a wake up call for early reform.' The Minister, Perdomo, praised it for being an 'in depth' and 'critical' analysis, voicing support for its implementation. By January 2009, the Ministry had approved most of the recommendations and charged the Department with their implementation 'over the next few years.' By 2012, 7 News commented the Report was 'gather dust on some disused shelf' at the Department, observing that the promised reforms had not materialised 'in any tangible way.' By 2013, Peirce and Veyrat-Pontet could 'determine which of its recommendations, if any, were implemented.' Over a decade after the Ministry's commitment, former permanent secretary of the same, George Lovell, noted 'only temporary solutions have been achieved, and on every occasion, those solutions bring us back to the same environment where crime and violence persist,' asserting the Ministry had 'not taken advantage' of the Report.
Peirce and Veyrat-Pontet called the Report a 'strong policy document,' noting it 'sets out a clear action plan for reforming' the Department. Barrachina and Monjaraz deemed reactions to the Report 'quite positive,' noting it was adopted as a 'foundational document,' with the incoming Barrow government reorganizing the Ministry and appointing a new commissioner to effectively implement the Report's recommendations. They praised Crooks for drafting 'a highly critical report in which he analysed point by point the main problems of the Belize police force,' calling the Report 'an excellent analysis' of the Department.