BELIZE CITY, Tues. Oct. 27, 2020– While swift action has been, and is being, taken against members of the public for violations of the Quarantine Regulations, Commissioner of Police Chester Williams was made aware that several officers in the Police Department, which is tasked with enforcing the regulations, have themselves been violating the laws that were put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Among the officers who are accused of such violations is a recently promoted corporal, whose unlawful actions were streamed on social media.

The officers, who are attached to Belize City police, were filmed on a cell phone at a birthday party, not adhering to physical distancing and face-mask-wearing rules.

While the date of the event is uncertain, Commissioner Williams confirmed it was recent, saying, “I am appalled and very much disappointed in that video, where a number of police officers, including a senior police officer, were seen in uniform at some social event, consuming alcohol.”

“This is not what our department is about — breaking the same law that they are supposed to be upholding. Very disappointing. Nonetheless, I have directed the Professional Standards Branch to address the matter, and I expect that all those officers who are in that video will be charged criminally, like any other civilian who has violated the quarantine regulations,” Commissioner Williams went on to say.

“We have to be stern when it comes to our officers who breach the regulations. It cannot be that police officers are going to believe that they are above the law and people must do as they say, and not as they do,” stated Williams.

Such gatherings are currently prohibited, says Williams, who also spoke of disciplinary actions for officers who were consuming alcohol while dressed in uniform.

“When it comes to the issue of consuming alcohol in uniform, that is a disciplinary issue that we would have to address internally… I can assure you and the public that this matter is not going to go unpunished. The actions of those police officers are outrightly disrespectful to the uniform. It is a violation of the law and it will not be countenanced. They must be dealt with”, Williams said.

In the context of the increasing number of cases of COVID-19 in the Corozal and Orange Walk Districts, and in Belize City, Commissioner Williams questioned the character and conscience of those involved: “We don’t know who is COVID-19 positive, and for them to be interacting with each other the way we saw on that video, it is putting themselves at risk as well. Because if one person within that setting would have been COVID-19 positive, then the whole set could have been infected.”