Cayo Police Go Into Schools to Deal With Youth Issues

Reymundo Reyes

There have been two suicides in the West recently, young persons who took their own lives. There are organizations which deal with depression and other related factors, but as we found out, the Police Department in Cayo is also taking the initiative to step up. The Department acts as investigators in any incident, but they are now going far beyond that.

ASP Reymundo Reyes, Deputy Commander, Cayo Formation

“Whenever we get calls of somebody found dead we first initial stage is go and visit the scene and determine whether foul play is suspected. The term suicide is used after we usually conduct searches in the person’s personal property—could be cell phone, computer, notebook, whatsoever—and there, most of the times you would find a note left by that individual stating as to the reason why he or she took her life and that is how then it is moved from a murder investigation to a suicide. So the police still has to investigate so that at the end of the day we know that it was not something that was killed and then a note left. We still have to go through the process of comparison of the person’s handwriting. Things could be staged today’s day, so we still have to go through the normal investigation as that of a homicide.”

Mike Rudon

“In the two that had been reported, the police are convinced now that it was suicide?”

ASP Reymundo Reyes

“It is suicide.”

Mike Rudon

“Finally, in terms of the police, you all have been doing a lot more community policing work; interacting with the community. Are you all perhaps exploring a more active role in the lives of these youths because there has to be something happening which people are not detecting? There must be some warning signs, something.”

ASP Reymundo Reyes

“Our community policing officers, including the officers of the domestic section are keenly looking into these last two incidents. We have seen that it involves high school students. We have seen the age range between fourteen and sixteen so we are going now to the schools, trying to get information along with the Board of these institutions in ways how we could help these youths. The problem sometimes is at home; the problem sometimes is at school, bullying plays a big role. So we are trying to…we have the GREAT program in which bullying is one of the main subjects but this is a subject being taught at the primary school level. We are targeting children from standard three to standard six. But now it seems that we have to go to the high school to get this information across to our students.”