Belize is considered the murder capital of Central America. But the government has decreed that citizens can no longer wear bullet proof vests for protection. The penalties are severe and no bail is offered to alleged transgressors who immediately go to jail until their trial wends its way through a backlogged court system:

A computer technician was charged for presumably wanting to preserve
his life. Today, twenty-five year old Paul Gibson of Nurse Seay Street
was charged with possession of a prohibited material.

Gibson pleaded
not guilty to the charge, but admitted that he wore a bullet-proof vest
for protection because he had been robbed four times this year. Chief
Magistrate Margaret McKenzie explained that no bail could be offered
and Gibson will spend Christmas behind bars until his case is heard on
December twenty-ninth.

The incident occurred shortly after ten last
night when police saw Gibson on Mahogany Street and conducted a
searched on him for drugs and firearms. The search revealed he was
wearing a white bullet-proof vest with no markings which should not be
in a civilian’s possession.