UDP Politics, as usual

Police Executioners?

A caller to one of the morning shows today said that he certainly won’t be asking for any rides from any members of the Police Department anymore. He claims that he actually hid when he saw a Police vehicle circling. That’s the reality on Belize’s streets even before the murder of Teddy Murillo this past weekend. The young man was shot from a vehicle while heading home, and reportedly witnesses say that he called the name of a Police Officer just before he was shot. Witnesses also say that another officer in the vehicle told the shooter that since his face had already been seen, he might as well finish the job. So a young boy who was by all accounts upstanding with a bright future was murdered. Truth be told, the Police Commissioner seemed almost nonchalant in his discussion of the matter. There was none of the determination to see justice done, none of the righteous anger at the very real possibility that a Police Officer had cold-bloodedly murdered a young man. The ComPol is asking witnesses to come forward. But does he really expect them to with the track record the Police Department is amassing? What seems missing from the Police Department in this and other cases before is the real will to do the right thing. Police Officers have been implicated in murder and other wrongdoing before, and absolutely nothing has come of it. Where is the report on the death of Chris Galvez, allegedly with the involvement of the Police? Where is the report on the death of a young man who was found ‘hanged’ on the BTIA compound, with alleged Police involvement? Where is the report on the murder of the cane farmer in Orange Walk more than a year ago? It is a serious thing when the community loses confidence in the Police and trust in the Police. But the community is not to be blamed. The Police Department is digging its own grave. Nobody…absolutely nobody believes that a Police Officer did not kill Teddy Murillo. There is no doubt on anybody’s mind. That’s how bad it is.

No witness…they say!

It’s been two weeks since cardiologist Dr. John Gough, the brother of UDP political aspirant George Gough and UDP insider Sandra Bedran, savagely beat up a minor on the street near his home. The incident is no secret. The minor, SJC student Carlos Zelaya, was allegedly pistol-whipped and brutally beaten by John Gough and a friend. The father of the minor says that he found out about it from Gough, who claimed that it was a misunderstanding. The minor has allegedly been dating Gough’s teenage daughter for the past two years. Now my problem is this – Gough has not denied beating the minor, though he says it was a misunderstanding. The hospital records will show that the minor had to be hospitalized after the severe beating. The Police have been given the reports and have allegedly questioned those concerned. So why hasn’t Gough been arrested? Why hasn’t he been made to go through the same process as any other Belizean (not UDP affiliated, that is) who has been accused of a similar crime? The Police say that they need a witness to the crime to be brought to them before they can do anything at all. That is just bulls@#t. That is police-speak for – sorry, we’ve received orders from our political masters to leave Dr. John Gough alone because he has strings in the UDP. Apparently the Police don’t do investigations anymore, from what they’re saying. They sit in their offices and wait for those who have been victimized to find witnesses and bring them in. Shades of the keystone kops fi real…

Keystone Kops…

Our Commissioner of Police has always been a man people love to hate. From as far back as I can remember, Mr. Jeff has been hated by some and feared by others, but by and large respected by all. His brusque no-nonsense manner, with the media most times, gave the impression that he didn’t have time to waste in the spotlight – his job was not in front of the camera but on the streets fighting crime. But that was then. Unfortunately, Mr. Jeff’s credibility has been struck a deadly blow recently. As the Police have bumbled through gaffe after gaffe, the ComPol’s rep is taking a beating. As corruption threatens to tear the Department apart, the ComPol’s new job seems to be slipping and sliding and bobbing and weaving. He’s still brusque and blunt with the media, but now it seems part of the political game more than anything else. I can certainly be excused for saying that the credibility of the Police Department is at an all time low. I can also be excused for saying that confidence in the Police Department is lower than that. Those things will go on Mr. Jeff’s resume, though it is less his fault than that of his political masters who have been allowed a free hand with the manipulation of law and order. The Police Department just isn’t the Police Department anymore…maybe they should think about changing the slogan.

The Mask

Rumours on the street in the past weeks have indicated the presence of police officers circling in police vehicles with masks on. Those rumours have led to speculation that there is a rogue element of the Police Department – a Special Execution Unit, so to speak. An email has been circling which makes serious allegations of a criminal police unit and hit men within the police. The email makes some other allegations which maybe just weeks ago would have seemed ludicrous and out of this world. But with recent events, those allegations just don’t seem so far-fetched any more. On a morning show, the Commissioner of Police confirmed that a police officer had been pulled in after reports of him wearing a mask on duty. He confirmed that the mask was found and proved those reports credible. If I heard the Police Commissioner right, the very same police officer whose name has been circling as the executioner of young Teddy Murillo is the person who was caught in this mask scenario. Is it just me or do the pieces of this heinous, nasty, frightening puzzle seem to be falling together? This is some scary s#@t. Even more scary is that the Commissioner appeared to want to dismiss the mask-wearing episode as some kind of fetish wiht nothing absolutely to do with criminal behavior.

Do the right thing…

On a morning show, the Commissioner of Police did his best to explain the M-16 thing where they paid the man who they caught with the weapon to return it to the authorities. Mose and Sharon appeared as confused and discontented by his explanation as I was. See, the man being touted as the citizen of the year by Police; the man who out of the goodness of his own heart and love of his fellow man bought an M-16 off a ‘crack-head’ so that ‘crack-head’ couldn’t do any harm with it, didn’t take the weapon into Police. As I understand it, he was fingered by the same ‘crack-head’ and tracked down by Police. In my book, seems like he should have been arrested for handling stolen goods at the very least, and for sure possession of a prohibited and unlicensed firearm and ammunition. But no, this bastion of integrity was paid by Police, reimbursed for the money he had allegedly given the ‘crack-head’ for the weapon. To borrow a word from one of my colleague’s seeming endless repertoire, I was left dumbfounded. The Commissioner said he felt that the end justified the means – a dangerous weapon was taken off the street. Hey Commish, could we get the name of this sterling individual because we have an award we’d like to bestow on him as well. But seriously, word is that the person in question has ties to the political bigwigs and the Police were told – hands off and pay the man some money on top. That version of events seems a whole lot more credible to me.

Cold Comfort…

The Commissioner did admit to a rogue element of police officers within the department. That’s plenty bad enough, but the Commissioner also said that there is precious little they can do about it. Now that admission I’m sure is cold comfort to many and a downright scary thought to most. Hell, I’m writing this and wondering if I should. Imagine, there is a bunch of armed officers with basically a license to kill compounded by rogue tendencies and amplified by the Department’s inability to control them. That’s a damned unsavoury stew. Serious! I’ve got to say I don’t have the same warm, comforting thoughts when the Police Department comes to mind. I guess like that caller to the morning show, I’ll stop taking rides with members of the Police Department – no telling where I may end up.

That Chris Galvez thing…

The mother of murdered Teddy Murillo called in to the morning show. She claimed that the police officer who it is said murdered her son came on the scene the day after and threatened some people in her yard. She said that he was accompanied by the police officer who was allegedly implicated in the murder of Chris Galvez not so long ago. More pieces of that damned scary puzzle falling into place. So what’s up with the investigation into the Chris Galvez murder? Didn’t an eyewitness come forward? Wasn’t the report concluded and a copy placed on the desk of the Minister of Police Carlos Perdomo? Why is the police officer who was implicated in that murder still on the street? And in the company of the police officer being accused of the murder of Teddy Murillo, no less. There’s something seriously wrong with this picture.

With all that said…

With all that said, the fact is that there are still many good men and women left in the Police Department. That fact has been obscured by the corruption and incompetence and negligence and cover-ups and political manipulation of a few people in the Department, unfortunately. There are still good men and women who wear their uniforms with pride and serve and protect the citizens of this nation with integrity. But until all the bulls#@t is cleared up, the good works of those individuals will go largely unremarked.

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