More cops charged; Ombudsman: sign of the times

Every year there are hundreds of allegations of police brutality…but of late, there has also been an increase in the number of officers accused of a wide range of crimes. Only today, Belize City authorities arrested police Sergeant Clement Cacho and charged him with driving without due care and attention, failure to stay on the right hand side of the road, and eleven counts of negligent harm. Cacho was driving his personal car on New Year’s Eve when the vehicle collided with a horse and buggy on Faber’s Road. Reports suggest that the accident occurred when Cacho tried to answer his cell phone. The eleven children that were in the carriage at the time were all injured and rushed to the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital for treatment and released. The horse, identified as “Thunderbird”, was not so lucky and was declared dead at the scene. Police this week also charged a Dangriga cop following investigations into an incident involving a teenager. According to authorities, police constable Myrick Caliz has been accused of harm and interdicted from duty until the case against him is complete. We understand that Caliz and a fifteen year old got into an argument on Boxing Day which ended when Caliz punched the teenager, knocking him out cold. Within the context of such cases, tonight News Five investigates this changing perspective of the police and its impact on the Belizean society.

Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
By all accounts, persistent reports of neglect, brutality and abuse have contributed to significant loss of confidence in the Police Department?s ability maintain law and order. Belize?s Ombudsman Paul Rodriquez says there are a number of factors that have contributed to the problem.

Paul Rodriguez, Ombudsman
?The break down of families, the break down of a sense of community, a growth in egoism, selfishness, and of course criminality has snowballed and increased by leaps and bounds because of the introduction of the drug trade into Belize.?

?But let me tell you that certain sections of the media are just prone to take a story and swallow it hook line and sinker… But it is not for me to say what has been the principal cause, but I do believe that there have been many contributing factors.?

In 2004 the Ombudsman, the Human Rights Commission, and the Police Internal Affairs Department joined forces to create a tripartite council. The body was established to specifically work on rebuilding morale and effectively address police matters, especially cases of brutality and abuse.

According to I.A.D.?s Commander, Superintendent Robert Mariano, there are presently twenty-eight police officers who rank from constable to corporal that are on interdiction for criminal matters. Eighteen other cops are before the police tribunal disciplinary body. Mariano maintains all cases are dealt with as quickly as possible.

Supt. Robert Mariano, Commander, IAD
?Whenever complaints are made to us at internal affairs we try to conclude the investigation between two weeks and three weeks, and by the end of the month we try to conclude the tribunal.?

Official statistics show that up to November 2005, one hundred and eighty-five complaints were lodged against law enforcement officers.

Paul Rodriguez
?What you have to look at is how many of those complaints are upheld. And let me tell you that a good number are not up held.?

?My experience has shown me that many of the complaints come from people who violate the law and want to try and use whatever persons they can, whatever organisations, whatever means they can to try to counteract and escape, avoid, evade police prosecution.?

Rodriquez believes that as authorities become more efficient in fighting crime, the number of complaints against officers will increase.

Paul Rodriguez
?This at no time means that we will close our eyes to what the police do. We will look at the police fairly and squarely and where they are wrong we will tell them that we think that you are wrong. And this applies to from the highest rank to the lowest.?

According to Ombudsman Rodriguez, members of the tripartite council are already scheduled to review some one hundred allegations of police brutality reported in 2005.