A Growing Distrust of the Police Department

The killing of 18-year old Elmore Neal on Central American Boulevard near its intersection with Matura Street by an off duty police officer on the afternoon of Saturday March 6^th highlights the growing public perception that various officers of the Belize Police Department believe that they may now be judge, jury, and executioners of suspects.  And why wouldn’t they, if the High Command once again maintain that the use of lethal force by one of its members was justified?

The official police report is that the officer was driving on Central American Boulevard when he observed Neal pointing a .22 chrome revolver at an unidentified person.  As a result, the officer got out of his vehicle, identified himself to Neal, and then commanded him to drop his weapon.  Instead of doing as instructed, Neal turned the revolver on the officer, and that is when the latter shot him once to neutralize the threat.  But Neal’s family and friends dispute the account and allege that he was murdered because he was shot multiple times.

The Neal shooting was the second fatal shooting in a month.  In February, an officer attached to the Ladyville Station shot and killed Jamaican O’Neil Jones after he was riding away from a fight outside a bar in Lord’s Bank.  Eyewitnesses alleged that Jones did not pose any threat to the officers but the police claimed that Jones had a shiny object on him that the officer mistook for a gun.  Both shootings have raised serious questions about the use of lethal force against suspects.

And the families of Teddy Murillo, an Adventist deacon, who was killed about two weeks ago and Christopher Galvez who was killed less than three months ago are adamant that their loved ones were also gunned down by officers.  Both murders remain unsolved and the hope is fast fading that anyone will be held accountable for their deaths.  Disturbingly, the reputation of the police has also been called into question by the increasing number of allegations that officers are aiding and abetting criminals, and even participating in crimes.

But the fatal shootings reveal that perhaps officers have forgotten that their duty is to investigate crimes and to arrest suspects and that it is up to the judge and jury to decide whether the suspects are found guilty and sentenced or set free based on the evidence presented by the prosecutor.  But more importantly, it seems that they have forgotten that the suspects have the right to defend themselves in court regardless of their crimes’ severity.  This is the judicial process that we must all adhere to.

It also seems that the High Command has not initiated prompt and impartial investigations into the cases of deaths involving officers and has failed to discipline or prosecute those found to be responsible.  And the outcomes of the internal investigations oftentimes are a joke.  Clearly, officers are not made accountable for their actions like ordinary citizens would be.  This is not much of a surprise, but when officers are not punished it inadvertently gives other officers the wrong signal that they too may be judge, jury, and executioners of suspects.

The shootings also make obvious why officers should not have the right to fire upon anyone unless they have been fired on first or why they should not be allowed to use lethal force unless it is truly called for.  Clearly, they can incapacitate a suspect by wounding him in a leg or an arm.  While no one will argue that they do not have the right to defend themselves, unless they have been fired on they are not defending themselves.  And if they are involved in a fatal shooting, we may never know the truth because the other party is not around to tell his side.

In all fairness, most officers are not trigger happy cowboys but are professional and do their jobs well despite the dangerous and stressful nature of their profession.  That is why we depend on them every day to keep us safe, to stand between our families and those who would harm us.  That said, because the police have so much authority, it is incumbent on us to make sure that all officers who serve our communities respect the rule of law that they themselves have sworn to uphold.  We cannot afford officers to take the law into their own hands.

And no, we are not quick to jump to conclusions regarding officer related shootings, assuming the worst about officers who use lethal force in defense of themselves and others.  The response is only a result of the growing mistrust that the public has for officers who abuse and flaunt their power over the very persons they are sworn to protect.  As a result, the time has come for the High Command to purge the department of officers who are involved in untoward activities.  We deserve no less.

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