The Fate of Career Police Officer Miguel Segura As Deputy ComPol Uncertain

Miguel Segura

In the aftermath of Saturday’s fatal road traffic accident involving Deputy Commissioner of Police Miguel Segura, there has been uproar, particularly by residents of Succotz Village who are either family or friends of Yolanda Valencia and Yanie Cu.  Valencia, who died on impact when the Isuzu Pathfinder driven by Segura collided with a taxi cab she was traveling in, was buried on Tuesday evening.  Cu, on the other hand, remains in the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital where he is clinging to life.  While Segura has since been arrested and charged on six counts of various traffic offences, his otherwise stellar career as a senior officer is uncertain.  The forty-eight-year-old Benque Viejo resident is out on bail, but is currently on interdiction pending the outcome of the case.  The tragic incident is one in a string of road traffic fatalities since the beginning of the year, despite a countrywide initiative by the Transport Department to raise awareness on drunk driving.  News Five’s Isani Cayetano has the story.

Isani Cayetano, Reporting

The arraignment of Deputy Commissioner of Police Miguel Segura in Belmopan Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, following a deadly collision over the weekend which claimed the life of fifty-four-year-old Yolanda Valencia, is a step in the right direction amid serious doubts that the matter would be glossed over by the Belize Police Department.  Segura’s indictment on a slew of traffic-related charges is ironic since, as an officer in the upper echelon, he is sworn to uphold the law and is held to a higher esteem because of his rank.

Inelia Chan

Notwithstanding his professional accomplishments as a decorated and well-respected officer, the public outcry for fairness is overwhelming.

Inelia Chan, Aunt of Accident Victim

“Everybody is saying that he is a big man there and we want justice here.  We want justice.  If they don’t do justice the people of Succotz will go to Benque to find him.  We are very vexed, we will do the justice.”

The events of the past few days, to some, may very well signal the end of Segura’s career as a law enforcement officer, a sudden and steep fall from grace.  Despite a massive campaign being launched back in April to address the issue of alcohol and road safety, Segura, whom we know was well aware of the initiative, proceeded with reckless abandon.  His former boss, Retired Commissioner of Police Crispin Jeffries, is leading that charge.

Crispin Jeffries

Crispin Jeffries, Chief Transport Officer [File: April 10^th, 2014]

“The laws in place to deal with drunk driving are in three parts. The first part provides for the use of the breathalyzers; the second part provides for the sampling of the suspected person through either his blood and the third part is through his urine. Those processes are what the police as a part of the drunk driving campaign will be doing as a secondary effort. The initial effort is for all enforcement officers—being from the city, the transport department or the police—to deal with it together with a view to start with the testing randomly.”

Although random testing, for whatever reason, may not have applied to the brass of the police department prior to the fatal outcome on Saturday morning, Assistant Commissioner of Police Aaron Guzman says that they are meeting the necessary requirements to see the process through.

Aaron Guzman

ACP Aaron Guzman, Western Zone Commander

“Mr. Segura was taken to the polyclinic and we did not get urine, we got blood because you can request urine or blood.  Blood was given, blood was taken to the lab to be done, right.  So, it’s a process and we are continuing the process.”

The Transport Department, on the other hand, is now forced to be more inclusive in its approach to addressing the perennial issue of road safety.  Among the many questions that are yet to be asked is whether Yolanda Valencia was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident.  Chief Transport Officer Crispin Jeffries was in the media just two days before the crash commenting on the matter.

Crispin Jeffries [File: August 14th, 2014]

“It has provided opportunity for enforcement officers from the police, the transport department and the municipalities to be trained on traffic related matters. The other areas of success are ongoing road works on the Western Highway, the introduction of highway patrols and there is efforts being made to look at the legislative framework. We are looking at seatbelt legislation at this time. In 1996, on the fourth of May, a piece of legislation was passed in Belize concerning the use of seatbelts in the front seat of vehicles. A lot of Belizeans are not aware that a piece of legislation like this exists. We saw it fit after repeatedly looking at the studies that have been done to increase the number of persons in vehicles that should be wearing seatbelts that is because statistics is showing, the crash test is showing, the data is showing that persons sitting in the backseat, children in the backseat, sometimes fly through the windshield or when the vehicle turns over, they fly through the window and sometimes when the accident is a small one, persons not buckled up in the back seats hit those in the front seat in the back of the head and it causes severe injuries. So we are looking at seatbelt as an issue right now with legislative change.”

While a change in legislation is actively being sought, the fate of Deputy ComPol Segura hangs in the balance.  He has been placed on interdiction and is scheduled to return to court on October ninth, after being granted bail of six thousand dollars.  The terms of his freedom, however, come with strict conditions which include reporting to the Benque Police Station every Friday, appearing at every court date, not interfering with the witness and not being charged for any offence while on bail. Reporting for News Five, I am Isani Cayetano.