POLICE DEATH SQUAD?

ComPol Admits to ‘Rogue Element’ within the Department

The murder of 21 year old Teddy Murillo in the early hours of Saturday morning, as the young man was heading home, has resulted in a hailstorm of criticism and anger and hate aimed squarely at the Belize Police Department. The accusation from Murillo’s family is that their brother and son was shot multiple times by a man who is sworn to serve and protect, a Corporal in the Department. Members of the family have said that Murillo was heard calling the officer’s name just before he was shot to death from a vehicle. A media tour by Commissioner of Police Crispin Jeffries has done nothing to allay the fears of citizens, little to restore or inspire public confidence in the Police Department and certainly nothing to convince Murillo’s family members and other Belizeans that their beliefs and fears are groundless.

Jeffries’ rounds in the media, rather, seem a patently political ploy to make him the face of the Police in the midst of this crisis, while shielding the man who is the chief policymaker and the man at whom the buck must stop, Minister of National Security Carlos Perdomo. Perdomo’s last media tour was less than successful and his appearance did nothing to obtain public confidence. So this week, while Commissioner Jeffries was taking the heat for the accusations threatening to tear the department apart, Minister Perdomo was taking advantage of a photo opportunity to hand out motorcycles and tools.

But Belizeans are not in the mood for the political games being played in the Police Department, not when residents are being shot down in the streets and the criminals allegedly doing the shooting are those who should be providing protection. Young Teddy Murillo is the third victim of a fatal shooting recently in which Police Officers have been directly implicated.

In late December, Chris Galvez was shot to death on the Western Highway, and his family and an eyewitness claimed that it was a policeman who pulled the trigger. On February 13^th, a Jamaican, O’Neil Jones was shot by Police in Ladyville. Witnesses say that he had no weapon and was shot in the back as he tried to leave the scene.

Rather than pacifying Belizeans, statements in the media by the Commissioner of Police have added credibility to persistent reports that there is a rogue element within the Police Department. Jeffries himself confirmed this in an appearance on Krem’s WUB morning show on Wednesday, and worse than that admitted that there is very little they can do about it. Even the hosts of the show appeared incredulous when Jeffries made his frank admission. Jeffries went further to state that he hopes to include psychiatric testing in the police recruiting process, as he insinuated mental instability within the ‘rogue element’ which leads to the behavior for which the Department is now under serious scrutiny.

The Commissioner, on that same morning show, also confirmed a street report circulating that there are policemen on active duty in Police vehicles wearing ski-masks. Not only that, but he revealed that the Corporal being fingered in the murder of Murillo had been found with a ski-mask just a week ago and had to be pulled in. While the logical speculation, as pointed out by the hosts of the show, is that policemen in masks demonstrates a criminal intent, the Commissioner attempted to brush it off as some kind of strange fetish or fantasy.

Before the Commissioner left the show, a call came in from the mother of Teddy Murillo, who related that the same officer they are accusing for his murder was in front of her home issuing threats the day after the killing. At the time, said Murillo’s mother, the Corporal was in the company of another policeman. That policeman is the same man who was accused of the murder of Chris Galvez in late December. The Commissioner, while admitting that it is a problem that the Corporal accused of Murillo’s murder lives right in front of Murillo’s home, said that there is little they can do because the officer has rights too.

Calls to various morning shows all this week have focused on the very real possibility that there is a rogue element within the Police Department acting as a death squad. In his interviews, though, the Commissioner could give no assurance that this was not so.

The Police Department has been the source of much controversy in recent times, fueled by allegations of political manipulation, cover-ups, corruption and incompetence. The Minister of National Security has been a non-entity despite his pre-election proclamations of ridding the country of the criminal element. There have been repeated calls for his removal, and the Belize Times has been reliably informed that faced with overwhelming public pressure there will be an announcement of changes at the head of the ministry within the next month. That will be none too soon for Belizeans faced with crime out of control.

Teddy Murillo, the latest murder victim, was a deacon of the Seventh Day Adventist Church. In protest against his senseless murder, the Belize Union of Seventh Day Adventist Churches has issued a release announcing that all 25 schools under its management will be closed on Friday, March 5.

The release states that “As a Church, driven by Jesus’ command to go into the world and teach, preach and baptize, we endeavour to call people to repentance and in so doing we create safer environments for our citizens. Yet the ongoing murders (some from the very same persons who ought to be protecting us) have instilled fear and chaos in citizens and visitors alike…we take this opportunity to call on the government to ensure that justice is served and that proactive measures be instituted to restore law and order in our nation.

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