According to the Commissioner of Police, the intoxicated officer who was found lying unconscious in the middle of the highway in Ladyville will be placed on interdiction.
By Khaila Gentle
LADYVILLE, Belize District, Thurs. June 23, 2022
A police officer who was found lying unconscious in the middle of the Philip Goldson Highway due to an extreme state of intoxication has been interdicted. A letter that was sent to the officer by the Police Department informs him that he was “apparently under the influence of drinks or drugs laying down on the highway oblivious to what was going on.”
On Wednesday, a video recording surfaced of the officer, since identified as one PC Balmory Amaya, lying on the Philip Goldson Highway at night beside his overturned motorcycle. The person recording the video can be heard saying that passing truckers and other drivers stopped to render aid to PC Amaya and to prevent him from getting run over. As a result, the traffic on the highway came to a complete halt.
Commissioner of Police Chester Williams told the media that he is embarrassed by the video.
“Certainly I saw the video this morning, and I am embarrassed by it. It looks exceedingly bad to see a police officer in uniform in such a position. I don’t know what to say, but I’ll just say this: we expect our officers to act in such a way that they’re not going to bring disrepute to the uniform that they wear,” he stated.
According to the Police Commissioner, following the incident, the officer appeared before a tribunal, where he pleaded guilty to failure to provide a urine specimen as well as other disciplinary infractions, including being intoxicated while in uniform. Whether PC Amaya will be dismissed from the department, however, remains to be seen.
“I have requested the notes of evidence in respect to his tribunal, and it will be reviewed. If there is sufficient [evidence] there that warrants a dismissal, then certainly we have to part company. He cannot continue to wear the police uniform,” stated Commissioner Williams.
PC Balmory Amaya was one of several officers who were brought over from the Belize Defence Force to the Police Department. Because of this, Commissioner Williams noted that he was unable to say whether the officer had a previous history of drinking on the job.
“He was one of those officers who was brought over from the BDF into police, and so we would not have a history of him in the police. We have to look perhaps at the military to see if there is some history of him with alcohol while he was in the military,” added the Police Commissioner.