_{Photo: Shama Foster}

A student/tour guide alleges he was subjected to a violent search and then physically assaulted by police to stop his recording of their actions. The claim is based on the right to record police officers on duty.

BELIZE CITY, Wed., July 10, 2024

The trial has concluded for the constitutional claim pursued by Shamar Foster, a student and tour guide who was allegedly subjected to a violent police search at the Belize City Municipal Airport on April 1, 2022, when he was only 19 years old. At the time, Foster, a boat captain and student at Sadie Vernon High School, said he was aggressed because he dared to question why he was being searched. The Ambergris Caye resident was accompanying 18 tourists waiting to board a Maya Island Air flight.

The claim form for the case was filed on March 22, 2023. The Police Department, via its legal counsel Bart Jones, declined to pay damages of BZ$30,000 sought by Foster on May 6, 2022. They argued that the version of events of the police officers in question differed from Foster’s narrative.

Foster reported that while waiting on the Maya Island Air compound, a police mobile arrived and two officers approached him to conduct a search. They were later identified as Albert Martinez and Linda Chan. In the cell phone video that Foster managed to capture of the distressing ordeal, the officers are heard using demeaning language and stating that he did not appear to be a tour guide because of how he was dressed. In an attempt to get Foster to stop his recording, Martinez hit him on the arm; and while putting his hand on his gun he threatened, “You want this to get f**g nasty?” Foster was then hit a second time, and that caused his cell phone to fall to the ground and the screen to shatter. The officer even threatened to accuse him (Foster) of assaulting a police officer. Despite it all, Foster did not respond with expletives. Nothing incriminatory was found on him, and Foster alleges that the officers did not apologize for the arbitrary search.

The incident was followed up in June 2022 by Foster, who filed a complaint against the officers at the Professional Standards Branch. However, up to almost nine months after the filing of the claim, Foster had not received any formal response or update on his complaint.

The claim zeroes in on the police’s “wide interpretation of their power to stop and search,” wrote Foster’s attorney, Leslie Mendez, in a statement when the claim was filed. She added that “officers misuse this power to operationalize their prejudices, and adopt all manner of repressive tactics against ordinary citizens …”

Sought in the claim are damages for constitutional relief, including vindicatory damages. Also being sought are 5 declarations, including that the search conducted on Foster was unlawful; that the action of the police to stop him from recording the search was a breach of his fundamental right to protection of the law and freedom of expression; that the manner in which the search was conducted violated his right to dignity and respect as guaranteed under Section 3 of the Belize Constitution; and that he was deprived of an effective remedy because he was not notified about any disciplinary proceedings.

Finally, the Court is also being asked to declare that “… the disciplinary proceedings conducted by the Professional Standard Branch under the Belize Police Department fails to meet the requirements to provide an effective remedy to the claimant in that the process lacks transparency, independence and impartiality …”

Today, High Court Justice Martha Alexander heard closing arguments in the case. After the session, attorney Mendez spoke with Amandala about aspects of the case that would be precedent- setting. In the case of the right to record a police officer in the conduct of his or her duties, Mendez says they are arguing that this right is protected in the Constitution of Belize under the right to freedom of expression. She explained, “We are inviting the Court to find that that right encompasses your right to record police officers, because essentially what you’re doing is you’re receiving information, you’re collecting information that is relevant to public officials’ duties and how he carries out those duties.”

Mendez said she has not come across a case in the Commonwealth Caribbean that directly addresses the right to record police officers while on duty. She shared that the cases they relied on to help make their arguments were from courts in Canada and the U.S. They also relied on comments by international bodies regarding the inclusion of the recording of protests and public assemblies within the scope of freedom of expression.

Speaking about Foster’s disposition throughout the case, Mendez said she admires his perseverance given the lengthy process, and that while he had an interest in his matter individually, “he definitely wanted to explore to see how to deal with the systemic issue.”

One of the officers was sanctioned with a fine of $150. While the claim does not seek penalties for the officers individually, Mendez says they do not consider the fine to be appropriate.

The Belize Police Department was represented by Stanley Grinage and Alea Gomez.