Security forces train in proper prisoner handling
There are frequent allegations on cases of police brutality and to ensure appropriate behaviour by the security forces, the Ministry of National Security in collaboration with the British High Commission today began a three week training programme on Prisoner Handling. The course is being held at Price Barracks in Ladyville and participating are the various law enforcement agencies. Representatives from the B.D.F., Police Department, Immigration, Kolbe Foundation, Customs and the Forest Department had the first sit down with the Commander of the B.D.F., Brigadier General Dario Tapia who says the training is one component of the national security strategy.
Brig. Gen. Dario Tapia, Commander, Belize Defence Force
“There was a need to come up with how we handle prisoners and to cut down on the prisoner abuse and that we have a common procedure for all law enforcement agencies whenever dealing we’re with prisoners. So as a result of that, this came out as a requisite for us and all law enforcement agencies. Even if there is no prisoner abuse at all, it is very important that we ensure that it doesn’t occur because then it doesn’t speak well of the organization and it doesn’t speak well of the leadership of the organization. So even if there is none we still need to ensure that we are on our toes with prisoner handling and how we go about doing it properly and make sure everything is done within the power of the law.”
Steven Ruffle, Rep, Nat’l Policing Improvement Agency, U.K.
“It’s a process that’s been developed by the United Nations, the National Policing Improvement Agency in the United Kingdom, and The European Union. Simply, the course is made up of two sections; first the train the trainer where we’ll be looking at direct teaching and then we’ll be doing student centered training which is referred to as facilitation. Very simply, that is where a student can identify their own problems and look for solutions for them with our experience to guide them through the problems.”
Duane Moody
“In any way is this more of a—for lack of a better word—hostile approach so to speak for handling prisoners?”
Steven Ruffle
“It’s quite the reverse.”
Sgt. Ian Oliver, Rep, Nat’l Policing Improvement Agency, U.K.
“I think the systems that we use in the UK and the systems that we’re gonna attempt to demonstrate and use here have been developed over a long period of time and they’ve been developed because of problems that have been encountered, usually in the courts, with people that have been arrested for offences and have been mistreated whilst they’ve been in custody and because of that they haven’t been prosecuted or have been found not guilty despite the fact that the evidence would tend to suggest that they have committed those offences.”
The training ends March twentieth.
