Disciplinary, Not Criminal Charges for Cops Who Stole Coke

Chester Williams

Rogue officers continue to make headlines after a number of cases involving law-breaking policemen have been reported.  Three members of the Special Patrol Unit are under investigation tonight and it is expected that charges will be brought against them by Friday for their alleged involvement in the disappearance of a quantity of cocaine.  The drugs were reportedly confiscated during an operation in Santa Elena back in June.  Since then a number of parcels have gone missing or weren’t turned in to the department altogether.  This evening, ACP Chester Williams gave additional details on the internal investigation.

ACP Chester Williams, O.C., Professional Standards Branch

“We have received information that sometime in June of this year, elements of the Special Patrol Unit went on a drug operation in the Santa Elena area of Cayo District and that operation yielded a number of parcels of cocaine which the officers, from investigation, did not turn up at the police station or at the exhibit room and neither did they charge anybody in respect of those drugs.  We have recorded statements from one of the individual officers involved and that statement is telling us certain things confirming that the drugs were indeed located.  As a result of that an internal investigation was launched by my office and we are preparing charges, hopefully by tomorrow.  The officers concerned, three Special Patrol Unit personnel will be charged disciplinarily for act of prejudice to good order and discipline and the reason for disciplinarily is that we don’t have sufficient to go criminally, because the drugs cannot be located.  We have made checks in areas where believe the drugs were concealed, but apparently the drugs have been removed and the person from whom the drugs were taken away is unwilling to or is refusing to cooperate with the investigation.  So to proceed criminally will not give us the result that we want, so we decided to deal with the matter internally.”

Reporter

“Sir, does this level of criminality, just blatant criminality, I mean we’re talking about drug trafficking, we’re talking about theft.  Does this concern you?”

ACP Chester Williams

“Of course it does concern us as members of the Belize Police Department.  We need to have an organization where the public has trust and confidence in the work that we do and if we will be going out on operations and seize drugs, especially in such quantity and keep it for our own personal benefit then that is of great concern, not only to myself, but the commissioner has also directed that the investigation be carried through and that those officers concerned be dealt with.”