Important Note: This Internet version of 7 News is a verbatum
transcript of our evening television news script. Many interviews on our newscast
are conducted in Creole. In the interest of clarity for our foreign readers,
we attempt to paraphrase the Creole quotes in English
Tonight, there is a robust, almost frenzied response from police and the government after 7News last night exposed the terrifying events that unfolded 10 days ago at the San Ignacio Hospital.
Jules Vasquez has the recap of the response to our report:
On the night of Saturday June first medical staff inside the San Ignacio Community Hospital were threatened and terrorized by gang affiliated persons who demanded that gang figure David Galindo was treated urgently:
Voice of: Medical Practitioner "When I came out and they pointed at me and they tell me , You better save this bally life, if this bally dead all a unu gwen dead up."
On Monday June third, the still shaken staff called a meeting to discuss the events of the traumatic night. The voice recording emanates from that meeting. Their Chief of Staff Juan Carlos Sabido - who is the CEO Julio Sabido's brother - was invited but showed up late - before this was said about Saturday night's immediate aftermath:
Voice of: Medical Practitioner "We informed our Chief of Staff, nobody showed up. We ended off our shift, and nobody showed up."
On Tuesday another meeting was held - this one with the Ministry of Health higher ups.
But, everything was swept under the rug. No public announcement was made, nothing changed - except maybe the glass window on this door which one of the gangsters had punched out.
So, pretty much, everyone pretended as if nothing major happened - that is until our report last night:
Indira Craig,
Tonight you'll hear a harrowing first hand account of the night that a Santa Elena gang terrorized the San Ignacio Community Hospital.
After that story aired, the Commissioner hurriedly set up a meeting with the staff:
Commissioner of Police, Chester Williams "I was the one who suggested that we have a meeting and arrange a meeting with the authorities from the San Ignacio community hospital so I will be meeting with them this afternoon at 2:00 in San Ignacio. And again the purpose is for us to be able to look at what their concerns are and what protocol we can develop moving forward to ensure that there is no reoccurrence of what actually took place on June 1st."
June first, that's 10 days ago - and Cabinet also pretended that it just got the memo -issuing a breathless and self serving release at midday today:
"The entire Cabinet shares the outrage of the Belizean people at the incident which occurred at the San Ignacio Community Hospital on June 1. Cabinet is grateful that medical practitioners, staff and patients were not harmed by those criminal elements who stormed the facility. Decisive action has been taken."
Decisive - even if delayed - and that includes, quote, "escalation of the operation to round up not only those persons who participated in the attack on our medical facility and staff, but ALL gang elements operating in San Ignacio and Santa Elena….(and) that teams from the Ministry of Health & Wellness, and the Ministry of Home Affairs, conduct an immediate assessment of security protocols at the San Ignacio Community Hospital and all public health facilities. The safety of medical practitioners, staff and patients MUST be always assured."
Suddenly seized by urgency and hopefully that includes putting a lock on the door of the trauma room:
Voice of: Medical Practitioner "They were barging in trauma room, pushing in the trauma room. We had to be right there holding the trauma room so that we could try prepare this patient. Then he was walking in, walking out cursing up everybody and they don't care about no patient, noddy in there."
So, this afternoon Commissioner of Police Williams went to the Hospital to meet with the staff and address their concerns. The meeting started at 2:30, and lasted for just under two hours.
Jomarie Lanza was there and she spoke to the Commissioner when it was finished:
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "Well basically we came and we met with the hospital administrator. We also had a representative from the Ministry of Health and Wellness in Belmopan, Dr Morey and the head nurses and other doctors. We wanted to hear from them what actually transpired the night of June 1st and we have also secured a number of video footages that we will be viewing to identify those persons who came to the josotal and created the ruction that led to the hospital staff being in fear. And so
having heard from them what took place on the night in question we discussed to see what we can do to make sure that there is no occurrence in the future and one or the things that we are doing is that my legal officer Mr Jones will be working along with Dr Sabido to develop a protocol in terms of how the police is going to respond to incidents at the hospital and even what the police is going to do when there is a high profile patient being treated at the hospital. Particularly if that patient is brought by the police. So the way it was done before where the police just come and drop the person and leave, there has to be something done to create ppl or presence in the event tut person may want to come and create problems so all of that we will be looking at to see what we can do."
"I also suggested to the hospital what they can do is that with their security that they currently are we can look at training them and making them special constables. So since the police is not able to work at the hospital on a 24 hours basis, the security that they have if they are special constables they will have the power as a police so they will be able to do law enforcement jobs and arrest people who may come on the grounds to create problems . That was a suggestion put out to them which they say they are going to take back to their managers to see if that can be prevented. I think it's going to be an excellent thing for them to do but I am happy to see that the doctors and the staff were able to express themselves to us and work with us to make sure we have a clear understanding of what the problem is and see how we can together work towards resolving the problem moving forward."
"Well what I have said to them is that whatever protocol we develop here can be replicated eventually across the country. Likely rightly said gang activities has permeated the country to some extent and we have to make sure that when we do have patients who are high profile when I say high profile I mean in the sense of their presence at an institution may create some threat. Then we will have to make sure we have a system in place to be able to deal with that so it can be replicated across the country again Belize city do have something not in writing but it is implied police officers do know that when they respond to an incident at the Karl Heusner we normally leave police officers there right so we will see how we can adapt that. In time police can stay at the hospital while the patient is here at least for a certain amount of hours until the patient is stabilized, transferred or whatever. So all of those things are being taken into consideration as we develop that policy moving forward. We have at least for a certain amount of hours until the patient is stabilized or transferred or whatever."
We must note the alarming revelation that the country's top cop learned about a major security breach like that from our morning show.
But the San Ignacio cops cluelessness about what actually happened that night at SICH may be because according to the doctors, the police fled the scene when the gangsters started to threaten and intimidate everyone in sight.
Today in Belize City the commissioner told the press that they didn't flee, in fact the police had to respond to a stabbing and they only had one vehicle:
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "The reason why the police did not respond when they were called was because it was a busy night in San Ignacio. The police had other complaints that they were dealing with and so they could not have responded on time as the hospital would have requested and I do agree with the hospital and the police as well and we have to strike a balance but we have to find a solution moving forward to make sure that should there be any reoccurrence that what took place or the sequence of events that took place that night in question do not reoccur."
"The police were at a stabbing they were at a stabbing I think they were at a burglary and I think there was another issue at a village. The police only had one vehicle that night that they could have utilized and so that was an issue. As I said this morning on Sun Up when I was there that the police in San Ignacio do have a mobility issue. Two of our vehicles are down due to the fact that we cannot source parts from the local dealers and so we are trying to see how we can get those vehicles up and running so the police will be able to have their full fleet of mobiles available to be able to respond to the calls of the public."
Police sources tell us that restriction to one vehicle for patrols was the product of a directive from the commissioner which prevented the use of other police vehicles for patrols.
And as the Cabinet release mentioned - they want police operations to escalate. And this morning on Sunup, the commissioner said a number of police officers are being transferred from San Ignacio because they are too comfortable in their hometown:
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "Commissioners before me had the belief that when you send police officers to their home, you get more from them and I think it was a good way of thinking on the part of the previous commissioners but I have a different idea. For me, when you send police to work home, they are too comfortable, they are too complacent, they know everybody and getting them to do the work is the hardest thing to do because they too acquainted and at the end of the day as much as you would want to see police working home where they can be more comfortable, with their families, the people who end up suffering are the public that we're supposed to serve and we are service oriented, we have to make sure that the service we deliver to the people is what the people deserve so I am not going to sacrifice the safety of the public for a police officer to work home and be comfortable, and so my belief has always been, I'll send you away from where you live, or away from where you're from. During my years as police, I have never worked home and wherever I go and work, I live because I don't want to have to be commuting but you find many of the police officers, they work somewhere, and then they live somewhere and then they commute. That commuting is a problem to some extent. So to answer your question we are in the transfer period and I don't know how they haven't shared it with you, because everything they share with Channel 7. Jules probably have the list already. But a number of officers are being transferred from San Ignacio because of the same reason. The transfers take effect July 1st."
And apart from fresh police, the Commissioner also hopes to get a new police station in Santa Elena.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "Another issue that we have is that you would know that the San Ignacio, Santa Elena area has expanded tremendously, the one Central Station is not cutting it. We are in the process of contracting the Santa Elena station through CABEI, we have through Mr Balona, gotten the land on which the station is going to be constructed, the finance or the funds from CABEI has been approved so it's just a matter of breaking ground and we should start the construction of that station but I will see if there is any way, maybe perhaps what we can do is to rent some house in Santa Elena and put a halfway police station. When I say halfway, I mean one that will not have all the amenities but at least half the amenities that the police would normally offer and we can use that as a temporary station until the new one is constructed. We have to be sensitive to the fact that the people of Santa Elena need a police station. For them to go all the way to San Ignacio to make complaints is ridiculous."
Santa Elena residents have complained that since the Hawkesworth Bridge was closed for repairs - crime in their side of the twin towns has escalated because the police response time has increased.
Three weeks ago Devain Flores Sr pleaded guilty to child cruelty for mercilessly abusing a 3 year old child. Fortunately, it was caught on camera -and he saved the court's time by pleading guilty to child cruelty.
The Commissioner of Police - who made the unusual decision to prosecute the case himself - pushed for Flores to be sent to jail - and today, he delivered on that. Jomarie Lanza was at the courthouse.
Nearly a month after security cameras caught him physically abusing a three year old child in the street, 33 year old Devain Flores, was sentenced this morning, and will be spending the next twelve months at the Belize Central prison.
The Commissioner of Police personally prosecuted the case and pushed for Flores to be confined and not just fined. Today, he expressed his satisfaction with the outcome.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "I am satisfied yes that the court imposed the maximum sentence of 12 months. I wish they had run consecutively but instead the magistrates chose to have them run concurrently so in other words he will only serve 12 months as opposed to 24 months but in terms of the magistrate imposing the maximum sentence on both counts of 12 months each. I think that the punishment do fit the crime. The child who has been abused and his parent can now feel at ease that the perpetrator will be behind bars and so for that I am extremely happy."
Flores was previously convicted twice for violence, and once for burglary. But due to other aggravating factors presented in the cross examination, regardless of his guilty plea for child cruelty, the magistrate was of the view that they must send a clear message to the public that there are serious penalties for endangering children. We asked the Compol if these offenses should carry a stiffer penalty.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "Certainly yes it should and it's something I discussed with the minister of human development and we are looking at the revision of the law so as to make it more a serious offense as well as to remove some of those elements that exist in order for the offense to be created."
"Well the magistrate was extremely clear in her assessment of the matter in terms of saying that we must send a strong message to persons who have care of children that as a society we must protect our future our children are our future and if we don't do what we can to protect them then who is going to do so. So I think the magistrate was very clear in that as well."
And this is the second day in a row that the ComPol was in the courtroom as a prosecutor. Yesterday he was there to arraign PC Derwin Marin, the cop who was charged with rape.
So is he doing some kind of Supercop Showtime? Or does it make a difference in prosecutorial outcomes?
On Sunup on 7 this morning we asked him if we'll be seeing him using what he learned in law school more often.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "It's good to be in the courtroom, I happen to be a lawyer, I have not had the change to practice my legal skills in a courtroom and so when we do have these cases that I believe are of concern, I don't have any difficulty putting on my lawyer hat and go to court and represent the crown. Again, for me it's something good to send a signal, to send a message, even at the highest level, we are doing what we can to ensure that persons who are accused of these types of crimes are dealt with. The matter with the 3 year old is personal to me in the sense that it's a child who is defenseless and to see an adult abusing a child in such a manner, I don't think anybody in their right mind could stomach that and so I took it upon myself to prosecute it to make sure that I do what I can so the accuser can face the maximum sentence. If the court do not give him the maximum and give him a reasonable sentence, I am going to be okay with that but the message will be sent and again with the police yesterday, what he did was extremely disgusting, disappointing, it puts a black eye on the department, we have been doing a lot to address the issues of police abuse and this is a very significant form of abuse and it cannot be countenance, it must be condemned in its greatest and strongest terms and so again I believe that my presence to go to court and object to bail was important to send that message that we are not tolerating."
And while he had no tolerance for PC Marin, what about Inspector Christopher Martinez, who is currently being investigated for physically assaulting a detainee? The victim reportedly shot up his house, and Martinez decided to take matters into his own hands when the suspect was detained.
Yesterday we told you that - despite his criminal trial pending in court - Martinez was approved to go before the promotions board - to be interviewed for a possible promotion to the post of ASP.
The compol bristled when we asked him about it yesterday.
But today on Sunup - he wasn't so harsh when we asked him if Inspector Martinez is his nephew:
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "Under the promotion rules, there is nothing to preclude a person who has not yet been convicted of either a criminal or disciplinary charge from applying and appearing before the promotion board. When these people appear before the board, it's just to do an interview and more than 90% of those persons who come before the promotion board are not promoted so it's not because you come before a promotion board, it means that you are automatically promoted, that's not the case because we only promote the people who will be filling the vacancies that we have so for example we had I think over 40 inspectors who went before the board for interview to become ASP and we only have vacancies for 8. So at the end of the day 40 of them will not be promoted, only 8 will be promoted. So again, let's say hypothetically the person who has a matter before the court pending or before a tribunal pending would pass that interview, that person's passing grade will be held in abeyance until that court process or internal disciplinary process is concluded. He would not be considered for promotion until that matter is concluded. If he fails then that's the end of it, so it's just a matter of complying with the rules of promotion because if you don't follow the rules let's say down the road he is acquitted of the charge before the court, he can then bring a claim to say that he was deprived of the opportunity for promotion by refusing him to go before the board so to make sure you have all ducks in a row, you allow the process to take its course."
Courtney Menzies: "In that duration, how is it that he is allowed to carry out his duties as opposed to being on some type of leave?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "It is not rare, we so have many times, we don't interdict for anything per se, there is certain things we interdict for, and there's certain things we don't."
Courtney Menzies: "But as a police officer, how can the citizens trust him if he's charged with physically harming someone else?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "Well, it's obviously not a thing that you can say is a tendency because he has been in the department for so many years and after that one incident there has been none so we're just waiting for the court process to finish and we'll see how the matter goes from there."
Courtney Menzies: "Sir there are reports that this inspector is a relative of yours, your nephew and maybe that's why he's still employed."
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police "He's not my nephew, he is a relative of mine but that has nothing to do with it because when the matter occurred I made sure that he was charged and the process takes its course."
Today a man who claims he is homeless and jobless was charged with attempted murder use of deadly means of harm. and dangerous harm.
The stabbing incident happened on Saturday night in the Partridge Street area when 31 year old Juan Carlos Rios Pineda, a Honduran national and a Call Center employee received multiple stab wounds. Pineda said he was walking his dog when Stevens pursued and attacked him.
Police found a kitchen knife found in the cemetery which is believed to have been used in the attack.
Today in court, Stevens appeared unrepresented before a Magistrate where he told the judge, quote,"I just don't care anymore about my life."
No bail can be offered for such an offense so Stevens was remanded to the Belize Central Prison until September 9, 2024. The Magistrate told police to take him to the hospital first to be treated for a wound.
He's charged with stealing not one, but two SUV's, and 27 year old Lawrence Jamie McNab, 27 pleaded not guilty in court today.
The Belize City resident received three thousand dollars bail for two counts of theft and for taking a motor vehicle or conveyance without authority. The 3 vehicles were stolen from AQ Auto Rental - valued at $30,000 each.
They include a white 2013 Chevy Equinox, a red 2012 Chevy Equinox and a black 2015 Chevy Equinox.
Reports to us are that he used to work at the rental agency.
There was a scary holdup in Cotton Tree Village last night. It happened at around 8:30 at Naomi's bar. The owner, a 20 year old female, told police that she was at the bar along with five men who were drinking.
Suddenly two men dressed in black, with ski masks and a large hand gun stormed into the establishment.
She told police they said, "this is a Robbery, everyone get on the ground". One of her patrons didn't though, instead he tried to wrest away the weapon and a struggle ensued.
The robber then fired 2 shots, injuring that patron and they then ran out of the bar. Police found two .45 expended shells at the scene.
Yesterday we told you about Attorney Leslie Mendez's complaint against the authorities at the Belize Central Prison. Just over a month ago, she was denied entry into the prison to see her clients because of her attire. Prior to being sent away, though, the prison officers asked to check her documents, which is protected under attorney client privileged confidentiality.
Mendez said she mulled over it for a month, deciding whether it was a battle worth taking on. But even after all this time, the humiliation and frustration has not dissipated, and she took the matter to the High Court - which told her to make a formal application.
She spoke with us today, and Courtney Menzies has that story.
This was the attire attorney Leslie Mendez was wearing on May 1st when she went to visit several clients at the Belize Central Prison. It was a long sleeved, knee length dress under which she wore dark stockings.
But despite being almost fully covered, she was not allowed into the prison - they say her dress was too short. So, her clients were made to wait before meeting with their attorney. Instead she was turned away and forced to change.
Today she explained that the concerns were brought up only after she refused to show the officers her documents.
Leslie Mendez, Attorney "I have serious concerns about the fact that I am being, that prison guards are asking to inspect my documents that are subject to attorney-client privilege."
"I have serious concerns that in almost in response to that, issues were raised about my attire. And in fact, it was the basis, it was that reason why I was denied access to my clients on that day. I think what is important to understand, bringing up an issue like that in a space like the prison, when I am there in my professional capacity and telling me that my dress is too short, is something that immediately changes everybody's eyes on me."
"And I immediately feel almost inappropriate and almost sinful, right? Because the implication is sort of that you've been, you're dressing provocatively. And so you can't access the clients. And that is, to be quite frank, that's a humiliating experience."
"I do not believe that I was dressed inappropriately, even if I was dressed inappropriately on that occasion. I thought that a warning would have been sufficient. And I thought that some support for me to access my client, if it is that there was a serious security concern, if it was that perhaps the prisoner sometimes behaving appropriately at the sight of an inappropriately dressed woman. That perhaps some support for me then, for me to be able to still have access to my clients on that day."
And she feels she's being victimized because of the cases she is currently involved in.
Leslie Mendez, Attorney "There was a decision that was made to ensure that that specific rule is very much imposed and strictly imposed on that day and that does cause me some concern, especially in the context when I have currently five matters representing inmates against the parole board."
Reporter "Mr. Murillo has said that there is no way that the prison guards and prison officers would have known about your cases in front of the parole board and that he always sits as an ex officio member. So it would have no bearing. He says the two things are completely separate."
Leslie Mendez, Attorney "Right. And he's free to say that. All that I can say is that when I was there, at least what the prison guards represented to me is that they attempted to reach out to him to see if I will be able to get access."
"He says he saw the cameras and that I was in fact inappropriately dress and I don't have, and I can't have access to my clients. I think the point is as well is that the optics, even if that's not the case, I can't go into Mr. Murillo's mind and try to figure out. The context is one where he himself made a decision to deny me access to my clients. The optics is absolutely bad. When I have six applications where I'm challenging parole board decisions, decisions that are not usually challenged by the way."
And she emphasized that while there are rules, she says they must be applied reasonably. And in this case, she feels that apart from victimizing her, the prison authorities also denied her clients their rights.
Leslie Mendez, Attorney "It feels, yes, villainizing. I don't think that the intent was to villainize, right? But that's how it feels because who, who bear the consequences of that? Who was denied access? Who had to drive all the way back to Belize City to come and change like, like a high school student, right? To gain access to her clients. It feels that way. Certainly it feels that way. And my point is, again, rules should still be applied reasonably in its context. It's not something that they have had a concern with me before."
"And so I think, again, I think that a warning would have sufficed. Again, I don't believe that I was inappropriately dressed because I had on the black stockings. This is exactly the reason why I was also hesitant to even raise this issue because then it becomes a question of was she inappropriate dress or was she an appropriate address?"
"When the question is, what really should justify prison authorities denying access to their legal representatives, denying the inmates access to their legal representatives? What really should justify something like that?"
"And a dress code might, but again, a dress code needs to be applied in a very reasonable manner in the context in which we are working."
Mendez's position gained support today when the Bar Association issued a release saying that, quote, "While the Bar Association cannot take a position regarding the details of the complaint, it is important for us to state that it would be gravely concerning if the Belize Central Prison, or any of its employees, used underhanded and veiled tactics to undermine the legal rights of incarcerated prisoners, especially their right to speak with their legal representatives. The rules of the Belize Central Prison are not to be used to humiliate legal representatives or to detract from meaningful representation of those incarcerated. The Bar Association hopes that the Belize Central Prison will properly address the complaint of Ms. Mendez so that there is no recurrence of this or any similar incidents." End quote.
For his part the CEO of the prison Virgilio Murillo has declined to get into the back and forth - he simply says the prison has requirements for outfits worn by visitors - which are known by Mendez and have never been an issue in her many years of visiting clients at the prison.
Nurse Pauline Reneau had just clocked out of work yesterday evening when she heard someone on a city bus calling for her. As it turns out, a man was unresponsive on one of the seats, and nobody knew how to help. She was in the right place at the right time to try and help the passenger reach a hospital, though he unfortunately didn't make it.
Still, his family was grateful to Nurse Reneau for her assistance. Today we spoke to her about what transpired. Courtney Menzies has this story.
There was chaos on a city bus yesterday evening on Albert Street after those inside realized that one of the passengers was unconscious. At the same time, Nurse Pauline Reneau was heading to pick up her child when someone on the bus noticed her scrubs and called her to help.
Pauline Reneau, Nurse "When I went on the bus, they said that the man passed out, so I went ahead and I checked for responsiveness and he wasn't responding. I checked for his pulse, there was no pulse there, so I immediately ran out of the bus and I flagged down the first vehicle I saw there and I asked this lady, she can assist me, let's take this man to Karl Heusner because they said that he passed out, I have no idea how long the bus was there, I have no idea how long he had passed out, but I really just wanted to help, so I went into the bus back and I asked for help, for them to help me lift the man so that we can take him into the vehicle, but I guess most of them were freaking out for the most part, they didn't know what to do and some of them didn't want to touch him."
"Upon putting him in the vehicle, I noticed that there was police on patrol, they normally have them at the Hindu shop right there on Albert Street, so they were passing same time and I asked for assistance because it's 5:30, you know, traffic and checkpoint and that time we wouldn't reach at KHMH as soon as possible and I was trying my best to get him there to see if we can save him."
"The police said yes, they will assist us and he drove in front of the vehicle and we followed them and we took the patient there to KHMH."
And though she did all she could, the man - whom she only knows as Charles - had already passed away from a fatal heart attack.
But though she was unable to find a pulse, she said that she knew she had to do something.
Pauline Reneau, Nurse "The first thing was I wanted to save him, I was hoping that he was just unconscious or he just passed out or something like that and maybe I could have did the CPR, the full three, but I wouldn't say impossible, but for me wanting to do the CPR, I couldn't give berth if there is no pulse."
"The other thing I needed to do was to get someone to take us over there, I didn't want to leave him there."
The US embassy has donated over 1.2 million Belize dollars worth of "IT" and law enforcement equipment to Belize's Joint Intelligence Operations Center today. At the handing over ceremony, the US Ambassador noted the coordination that has to happen within the region to combat transnational crime. And the current head of JIOC explained what the equipment will be used for.
The donation was from the U.S. Bureau of International Narcotics & Law Enforcement Affairs, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), and the U.S. Southern Command. It includes IT equipment, vehicle maintenance equipment, boat engines, and a bomb disposal suit.
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Tonight, there is a robust, almost frenzied response from police and the government after 7News last night exposed the terrifying events that unfolded 10 days ago at the San Ignacio Hospital.
Tonight you'll hear a harrowing first hand account of the night that a Santa Elena gang terrorized the San Ignacio Community Hospital.
"I was the one who suggested that we have a meeting and arrange a meeting with the authorities from the San Ignacio community hospital so I will be meeting with them this afternoon at 2:00 in San Ignacio. And again the purpose is for us to be able to look at what their concerns are and what protocol we can develop moving forward to ensure that there is no reoccurrence of what actually took place on June 1st."
So, this afternoon Commissioner of Police Williams went to the Hospital to meet with the staff and address their concerns. The meeting started at 2:30, and lasted for just under two hours.
having heard from them what took place on the night in question we discussed to see what we can do to make sure that there is no occurrence in the future and one or the things that we are doing is that my legal officer Mr Jones will be working along with Dr Sabido to develop a protocol in terms of how the police is going to respond to incidents at the hospital and even what the police is going to do when there is a high profile patient being treated at the hospital. Particularly if that patient is brought by the police. So the way it was done before where the police just come and drop the person and leave, there has to be something done to create ppl or presence in the event tut person may want to come and create problems so all of that we will be looking at to see what we can do."
We must note the alarming revelation that the country's top cop learned about a major security breach like that from our morning show.
"The reason why the police did not respond when they were called was because it was a busy night in San Ignacio. The police had other complaints that they were dealing with and so they could not have responded on time as the hospital would have requested and I do agree with the hospital and the police as well and we have to strike a balance but we have to find a solution moving forward to make sure that should there be any reoccurrence that what took place or the sequence of events that took place that night in question do not reoccur."
"Commissioners before me had the belief that when you send police officers to their home, you get more from them and I think it was a good way of thinking on the part of the previous commissioners but I have a different idea. For me, when you send police to work home, they are too comfortable, they are too complacent, they know everybody and getting them to do the work is the hardest thing to do because they too acquainted and at the end of the day as much as you would want to see police working home where they can be more comfortable, with their families, the people who end up suffering are the public that we're supposed to serve and we are service oriented, we have to make sure that the service we deliver to the people is what the people deserve so I am not going to sacrifice the safety of the public for a police officer to work home and be comfortable, and so my belief has always been, I'll send you away from where you live, or away from where you're from. During my years as police, I have never worked home and wherever I go and work, I live because I don't want to have to be commuting but you find many of the police officers, they work somewhere, and then they live somewhere and then they commute. That commuting is a problem to some extent. So to answer your question we are in the transfer period and I don't know how they haven't shared it with you, because everything they share with Channel 7. Jules probably have the list already. But a number of officers are being transferred from San Ignacio because of the same reason. The transfers take effect July 1st."
Three weeks ago Devain Flores Sr pleaded guilty to child cruelty for mercilessly abusing a 3 year old child. Fortunately, it was caught on camera -and he saved the court's time by pleading guilty to child cruelty.
And while he had no tolerance for PC Marin, what about Inspector Christopher Martinez, who is currently being investigated for physically assaulting a detainee? The victim reportedly shot up his house, and Martinez decided to take matters into his own hands when the suspect was detained.
Today a man who claims he is homeless and jobless was charged with attempted murder use of deadly means of harm. and dangerous harm.
He's charged with stealing not one, but two SUV's, and 27 year old Lawrence Jamie McNab, 27 pleaded not guilty in court today.
Yesterday we told you about Attorney Leslie Mendez's complaint against the authorities at the Belize Central Prison. Just over a month ago, she was denied entry into the prison to see her clients because of her attire. Prior to being sent away, though, the prison officers asked to check her documents, which is protected under attorney client privileged confidentiality.
"I have serious concerns about the fact that I am being, that prison guards are asking to inspect my documents that are subject to attorney-client privilege."
Nurse Pauline Reneau had just clocked out of work yesterday evening when she heard someone on a city bus calling for her. As it turns out, a man was unresponsive on one of the seats, and nobody knew how to help. She was in the right place at the right time to try and help the passenger reach a hospital, though he unfortunately didn't make it.
"Upon putting him in the vehicle, I noticed that there was police on patrol, they normally have them at the Hindu shop right there on Albert Street, so they were passing same time and I asked for assistance because it's 5:30, you know, traffic and checkpoint and that time we wouldn't reach at KHMH as soon as possible and I was trying my best to get him there to see if we can save him."
