Our Worst Fears

At some time, we have all experienced that feeling of nameless dread that leaves our skin crawling and our hair standing on end.  Mostly it is in the early hours of the morning when we wake with a jolt knowing that the world is out to get us. Generally, this terror evaporates in the clear light of day and we dismiss it as groundless paranoia, but sometimes we just cannot shake the feeling that there is a vast conspiracy out there, even though we have no evidence on which to base it.
               
Thus, it is with the wave of crime that has been sweeping through the country.  I could not help feeling that it was part of a plan to destabilize the country and yet the idea that some force was orchestrating the mayhem seemed ridiculous.   However, I was not entirely alone.  The Galvez family has been vocal in their claim that the murder of their relative was part of a much larger conspiracy involving some members of the Police Department. Other incidents have also pointed in the direction of individual rotten cops, but the revelation that there was at least one criminal gang within the Department proves that our worst fears were true.
               
It explains the brazenness of the recent spate of armed robberies since the perpetrators were confident that even if caught their friends within the Department would ensure that they could never be convicted.  Evidence and files would disappear and witnesses fail to appear.  However, it is by no means over.  Before we sit back and relax, we need to understand the motivation behind such a terrible betrayal of trust and duty. It comes right back to the criminal gangs involved in moving drugs throughout the region into North America.  Look at Mexico and you see what happens when the authorities become serious about stopping the drug trade.  The gangs ratchet up the ante, making whole districts into virtual war zones.  Thousands die, many innocent victims caught in the crossfire as rival gangs fight for their turf with the assistance of members of the police and military. 
               
Finding a criminal Gang working from within the Police is an important step, but it is only a start.  These men were not working alone but were foot soldiers of criminal gang bosses who are not happy with efforts to slow the traffic of drugs through Belize.  Strange as it sounds, the increase in crime is probably due to a new intent at the very top to fight organized crime. Anything that makes the government look bad, especially before Village Council elections, promotes the interests of the drug lords. Those police who are on the payroll of the crime bosses are willing participants, especially if their own careers have been sidelined by a change of command within the Police.  It would be a mistake to think that excising one cell of corrupt police will cure the cancer. Undoubtedly, this is not an isolated group of bad cops; there must be other cells.  There has to be a new intelligence movement within the police to detect signs of such cells and root them out.  The automatic response of protecting its own members from scrutiny and cover up of bad behavior has to stop.  Any instance of straying from procedures in collection of evidence, taking statements, crime scene management or other routine police work must immediately raise red flags.  New rules must be promulgated that make it easier to terminate police officers guilty of such infractions, even if criminal intent cannot be proved.
               
Unfortunately, the public distrust of the police has been vindicated and will not be easily eliminated. Even the official version of the way in which this gang was caught is worrying, based not on intelligence work but on a lucky chance.  Surely the hundreds of court cases that have been lost due to police “bungling” and the many credible accusations of police involvement in criminal activities over the past few years should have prompted serious internal investigations.  Naturally, this can only be done if the people at the very top are not themselves compromised by the crime lords and such investigations may be more effective if they are clandestine. The Belize public would feel more secure to know that the exposure of this police crime cell was indeed the result of just such a secret internal sweep rather than a fortunate accident. One of our worst fears is that there are those within the Police Department who are on the payroll of the bad guys, but it is even worse to think that nothing is being done about it.
               
Congratulations to all involved in exposing this cell and good luck on actually building a case and successfully prosecuting those caught, since this will involve outwitting those forces still within the Department who will be obstructing this outcome. At least this event gives us the hope that the Police High Command and the Ministry of National Security is on our side in the fight between good and evil.