Police, like other frontline public servants, have been performing admirably in their enforcement of the State of Emergency regulations and the curfew, which is being implemented to reduce the risk of spreading the coronavirus in Belize. A group of officers from the City of Belmopan are being accused, however, of abusing the authority given to them under the State of Emergency regulations. They allegedly used it as an excuse to inflict a beat-down on a group of residents from an apartment complex in that municipality, and the Police Commissioner has announced that this accusation will not be tolerated.
The incident occurred shortly after 8 p.m. on Friday, April 3, 2020 on Uruguay Street, in the San Martin Area of Belmopan. A group of about 20 or more residents were in their homes at an apartment complex on that street. Reports to the press are that one of those tenants was spotted on the street, breaking the curfew. That attracted the attention of a team of police officers who were patrolling the area.
That tenant allegedly fled into the compound of the apartment complex, and the officers followed him there. Other residents of the apartment have told the press that the agitated officers began kicking the locked gate of the apartment complex, and that caught the attention of the elderly landlord, Alejandro Chavez. He reportedly offered to open the gate, so that the officers could gain access to the apartment complex.
As soon as he did it, he was allegedly attacked by the officers, for no clear reason or justification. The officers allegedly assaulted the elderly gentleman, and several of them kicked him while he was on the ground, inflicting very serious injuries. The tenant who was reportedly spotted breaking the curfew hours also allegedly got a dose of the police beat-down. There are allegations suggesting that one of the officers supposedly has a long-standing dispute with one of the victims and that he used the opportunity to abuse his authority as a lawman.
Someone, most likely one of the tenants, managed to hide nearby when the operation was taking place, and that person managed to record a portion of the incident with a cellular phone’s camera. It was posted on Facebook, and that video has caused outrage on the social media platform.
Shortly after the video began circulating, Police Commissioner Chester Williams, made a Facebook post of his own, condemning the behavior from his officers that was depicted in the footage.
In his post, the Commissioner said, “There is a video circulating on Facebook depicting police officers beating on some people, including an elderly man. Please note… this is not what the State of Emergency is about. While we expect that people are going to obey the regulations, we also expect that our officers are going to respect the human rights and dignity of our citizenry. I have therefore directed the matter to Professional Standards Branch for a full and thorough investigation.”
