Commissioner of Police champions results of breathalyzers to be accepted into evidence

This week, we reported on the donation of ten breathalyzers to the Belize Police Department. The devices used to measure blood alcohol concentration will be distributed to different police stations around the country. Today, Commissioner of Police Chester Williams shared that while the breathalyzers are commonly used across the region and accepted into evidence for court cases, it is not the case for Belize. The courts only accept specimens from the national forensic service, but Commissioner Williams wants to see that changed.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

Chester Williams

“We do have an S.I that speaks to the use of breathalyzers but the evidence that is accepted in a court of law for driving motor vehicle with alcohol concentration above the prescribed limit is governed by the issue as it relates to the test must be done by either blood or urine sample. So, it requires an analysis to be done by the National Forensic service of either the blood or urine and it is based on the alcohol level that a court determines whether or not a person is legally drunk and not by what a breathalyzer would read. So, while yes we do have the S.I that deals with the breathalyzer we would want to see that we change the law that the evidence to be accepted for the court to find you guilty of drink driving would be the use of a breathalyzer rather going through the process of asking for a blood or urine sample and then go to the lab for testing and so it would make the process much easier for us to change into that direction.”

Reporter

“Will the police lobby for legislation to be changed?”

Chester Williams

“Of course! We will do that. We are in the modern era and we need to see how we can change to the breathalyzer; that is what is being used across the Caribbean and the region. So, we can now move in that direction as well.”