Child knocked down by police officer, but who’s to blame?
jamil wade
Last Friday morning nine year old Jamil Wade, a standard two student of Calvary Temple, headed to the store for his mother but ended up in the hospital after he was knocked down by a police vehicle. It was after eleven that morning and his mother, Paula Wade, was at home with her other child who had just returned from the hospital. Paula got the news of the accident from a friend and rushed to the hospital, which is where the situation became complicated. The officer who was behind the wheel of the police vehicle is blaming Jamil for the accident, but the child is claiming otherwise.
Paula Wade, Mother of Accident Victim
“When ih get by Magazine Road and ih get knock down by wah police car. So wah young lady weh know me come and tell me yoh son just get knock down. I get shaky, I get frighten and I want know really weh happen. I ask ah if ih dead, ih seh she noh know. So I just get one ah my friend Stephanie and ask ah come drop me dah di health center cause dehn got ah dah health center. When I reach deh I run in and gone straight dah back. Dehn tell me my son deh dah back so I ask weh and dehn seh ih deh right pan di bed. When I get inside and I si he ih eye open and I feel better because I seh well ih okay. So I ask di nurse weh happen and I ask di police weh happen, how ih get knock down. And he tell me my son mi di cross di street but den my son wake up and seh no I neva mi di cross di street. Ih seh I mi gwein straight and you knock me down like dat. So I ask di nurse weh dah di damage and ih seh dehn can’t really tell. So ih write out wah form fi go tek wah CAT scan and wah x-ray pan di foot and di arm.”
Marion Ali
paula wade
“Weh di results seh?”
Paula Wade
“Well ih noh get no bruk but ih got swelling, ih just bruise up pan ih foot and ih head top and ih jaw. I would like fi he tek full responsibility fi all medical bills and everything with my son; di bike get damage I would like he to fix it and everything. If ih badly damaged I would he to get a new one.”
Paula says she will speak with the officer in question on Tuesday.
How can police blame a child?. If it was some one else that knoked down that child , that individual would be charged w/ ¨driving withour due care and attention ¨or somthing similar. But like it is the police no charge has been made yet the police is blaming the child. Shame on the ppolice office and a big shame on the poilice department for allowing this to happen.
the police has lost the respect of the police .
Police can blame their crimes on anyone and get away with it, they are above the law.
If they are not shooting innocent people, stealing, or knocking down kids they are not happy.
it is shame what police are coming to. Like lory menitoned if it was an individual who had knocked down the child that person should be charge with driving without due care and attention. That police officer has no moral value and should be charged as a normal individual would. This only shows that Belize’s law is not being abided as it should. There is not justice in Belize!!! Justice make there own laws..
Surely the officer should pay for bike repair or for a new bike. However, I have to say that I do not think young children should be allowed to walk/ride around the streets unaccompanied by adults. You should not be speeding in the streets, but at the same time, sometimes young children are not responsible enough to heed traffic, and it is dangerous. Example – I was driving by BTL park once and these children were playing with a ball. I had just crossed the speed bump, so I was not going fast. The ball rolled into the street and one of the children ran to get it without even looking. I had to swerve to avoid him even though I was not going fast. Imagine if the speed bump was not there? So many things could have gone wrong. For this same reason I did not allow my children to walk/play on the streets alone until they were teenagers, and even then I did not know if it was enough. I have seen children make a game of running back and forth in front of cars dodging traffic. Sometimes the situation cannot be helped and the driver is not completely at fault. I am not saying this child is at fault. In this case, the officer should help with medical expenses and with a new bike. But really, parents, let’s be more responsible and not allow these dangerous situations to occur in the first place.
Well so much things are happening in our nation. Look at this now a child being knocked down by an officer, but then what gets to me is everyone is complaining about how “lenient” police are on themselves and noone is doing something to alleviate this problem. anything can happen and all Belizeans do is talk talk and talk. Belizeans to me are not strong enough to handle many problems which may have simple solutions. We can never work together
too many police get use to it why don’t you see or was the police too drunk if thats the case fried them up or go to the mechanic shop to check the horn go back to take your driveing test too much i don’t care problem we need to work in hand everybody get there turn sometime worst so be careful any drivers its all about be caution but police sometime because they think they rule the world so they still do it that not all we are one blood government need to look back on the agenda people may talk they get to shutup by the big sharks but those same people can turn arround be careful police need to cover the medical bills need to do your jods officers cover your bills
The police officer is to blame. Under the law of autos vs. pedestrians, this officer must be prosecuted!
the police should take responsibility for there action.they are not above the law. they are the one that should protect and serve the people.not hit them with a car and blame them for it.belize laws sucks when it come to people rignts.