Compol: Highway enforcement will improve
He is not only Commissioner of Police, but by coincidence he was also among those people who found themselves stranded at mile twenty-eight by Monday morning’s highway tragedy. This afternoon I sat down with Commissioner Carmen Zetina to see what role the police have to play in making Belize a safer place for motorists and all those who use the nation’s roads.
In 2001, accidents on Belize’s highways left seventy men, women and children dead. An additional seven hundred and forty-eight people were injured. Statistics like these have the Police Department concerned.
Janelle Chanona
“In your estimation, Commissioner, how can we improve safety standards on the nation’s highways?”
Carmen Zetina, Commissioner of Police
“The legislation is there on the seatbelt, the legislation is there on the speeding and things like that and it’s just a matter of enforcement. And like I said, we are going to lead, whenever we get the vehicles because the highway patrol at this time is very difficult to do.”
That job is supposed to get easier this year as the police department is due to receive a hundred Ford trucks. According to Commissioner of Police, Carmen Zetina, the equipment will play a crucial role in saving lives.
Carmen Zetina
“Definitely we, the police department cannot do anything at this time. We certainly have to depend on the support of the Department of Transport to assist us in patrolling or policing the highways. Because you know pretty soon we’ll be getting a hundred vehicles for the department and that is one of the main focus, traffic, highway patrol. We’ll have vehicles assigned to the Traffic Department as such.”
Janelle Chanona
“So we’ll have officers just going up and down the major highways?”
Carmen Zetina
“Yes, that’s what I expect to do, to have more patrols, regular patrols on the highways.”
Janelle Chanona
“Giving tickets?”
Carmen Zetina
“Tickets, summons, summons to court. This is what we are going to do. We need to address that problem on the highways.”
Another major problem on Belize’s highways is drunk driving. The Police Department is armed with radar guns to track speeding cars and Breathalyser kits to test alcohol consumption levels. But the use of the equipment has been limited.
Carmen Zetina
“Well the Breathalyser kits, because we are not on the highways, and again, the Breathalyser is just a matter of preliminary test that are being conducted. We are using it and the times we have used it, they’ve gone beyond the prescribed amount that the law requires and we have to do something. It’s a major concern to me and to government, and hopefully within the next three months that will be addressed by the police. We’re going to be the lead agency in respect to highway patrols.”
Janelle Chanona
“As far as the public perception that drunk drivers get off, even after they’ve killed people, how are we looking to handle that situation.”
Carmen Zetina
“In many instances as far as I know drunk drivers have been convicted. The only thing as we mentioned before that the penalty such, the proper or appropriate penalty is not there.”
In other news from the Police Department, during brief ceremonies at the Central Bank on Tuesday morning, Minister Responsible for Police, Ralph Fonseca, accepted a new Ford F-450 van from the Government of the United States. The donation, handed over by U.S. Ambassador Russell Freeman, includes one year of maintenance and spare parts. The value of the vehicle package is estimated at fifty thousand U.S. dollars. We’d like to show you a picture of the van, but according to police, the newest addition to their car pool will remain under wraps, as it will be used for covert operations.
