TOWER HILL, Orange Walk District, Wed. Aug. 26, 2020– An investigation into an alleged act of extortion by a police officer, led to charges being brought against Constable Reginald Diego, Jr., 39, of Libertad, Corozal District, who is attached to the Orange Walk police. He has been charged with extortion and has been detained pending arraignment in court.
The incident for which he was charged occurred on Sunday in Carmelita, at the police checkpoint near the Toll Bridge on the Philip Goldson Highway.
Assistant Commissioner of Police, Joseph Myvett, said that an American visitor who was driving from the direction of Belize City to Orange Walk Town, was not wearing a mask on his face, and was stopped by a policeman at the vehicle checkpoint near the Toll Bridge in Tower Hill.
The cop ordered the visitor to get out of the vehicle, and told him that his failure to wear a mask was an offense which carries a fine of $5,000, and that they could settle the situation without court charges. (Actually, the law does not require members of the public to wear a mask while driving in their vehicles.)
The American allegedly offered the officer $50, but the officer did not take it, and the American then offered him $300, which the policeman allegedly accepted.
The American then drove away without being charged. He, however, then went to the Orange Walk Police Station and made a report, and the police officer was detained.
Commissioner of Police Chester Williams said that the officer will be charged both criminally and internally by a police tribunal for violation of Police Codes, and for bringing the department into disrepute.
If he is found guilty, the tribunal has the authority to discharge him from the department or to disqualify him from receiving department benefits.
Commissioner Williams also noted that the department had been getting reports that some police officers have been extorting money from members of the public, and that a meeting would be held with Attorney General Michael Peyrefitte in an effort to get amendments passed to make it an offense for members of the public to offer bribes to police officers. It will also be an offense for police officers or law enforcement officials to extort money or anything else from members of the public, and that stiff penalties should be levied if they are found doing so.
Statutory Instrument 22 of 2020, which addresses the “offense of bribery and extortion,” has already been signed by the Governor General, and took effect on Tuesday, August 26, 2020.
The SI says that, “A person who commits an offence under this regulation is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for one year.”
Extortion cases are tried at the Supreme Court.