B.P.D. Working to Root Out Rogue Cops

Chester Williams

Some two weeks ago, the top cops were singing the praises of officers who are going above and beyond the call of duty even when their lives are at risk. Well, today, the top officers of the Belize Police Department came together to honour cops who are doing good work even though the department still grapples with rogue ones. Commissioner Williams says that the department is doing everything it can to remove corrupt cops.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“I am sure the public do appreciate the fact that for the most part, police officers are good people. I would say that we have ninety-nine percent good officers and maybe one percent bad ones and those whenever they manifest themselves they will find a way to deal with them and get rid of them. But no matter what we do, we will always have bad officers. I think that over the years we have shown that we have been swift in dealing with some officers. Yes, because of the way the system works, we cannot get rid of them as quickly as we want to; we have to go through the process. Once the process goes through and there is sufficient for us to dismiss these officers then we do so. I am not sure if you recall the case in Punta Gorda where a teacher had reported that she had been extorted by two police officers when I was at PSB. That matter was dealt with and the trial was held recently in the Supreme Court and one of the officers was convicted for extortion and sentencing is set for next week. So, that is another one we will be getting rid of. I do think we have a good system. The question is whether we have sufficient officers in the system who deals with internal discipline and I would say no we don’t. It is something we are looking at and at the same time each commander has a responsibility that they discipline the officers who work under their command. PSB should not be allowed to take every case of indiscipline behavior across the country. They will only take those selected few that warrant them to take due to the effect they would have on the public. So, as it relates to the smaller ones then those should be dealt with by the local commanders.”