BELIZE CITY, Mon. Nov. 21, 2016–Several officers in the Gang Suppression Unit (GSU) reportedly are close relatives of the Commissioner of Police, Allen Whylie.
The allegation to Amandala is that Whylie’s two daughters and godson, and his wife’s cousin, nephew and brother-in-law are all officers of the GSU, who receive a special stipend of an estimated $500 in addition to their regular salaries at the end of the month.
In an exclusive interview with the Amandala tonight, Police Minister Elodio Aragon, when asked if it was not a conflict of interest for the ComPol to have six of his relatives in a very small unit such as the GSU, told us that he would, “not answer that question.”
We cannot say how many officers are in the GSU because it is police policy not to reveal how many officers are in the unit.
Information to our newspaper is that Whylie and GSU boss, Glenn Caliz, don’t necessarily see eye to eye on several issues in terms of how the unit is being run.
There are rumors that Caliz will in fact be transferred upon his return from vacation, but Aragon refused to deny or confirm the information, saying that he had not yet received the list of transfers from Whylie.
However, Aragon did inform our newspaper that the ComPol had asked for a transfer for some officers, across the department, because they want to look at having the “right people in each unit so as to be more effective on the ground.”
Those transfers, Aragon said, are scheduled for early next year.
While we are unable to determine the cause for the allegedly strained relationship between Whylie and Caliz, we can confirm that Whylie had previously used one of his relatives in the GSU as his personal security guard.
We can also confirm that it was one of the Compol’s relatives who was accused last month of making unwanted sexual advances towards persons in the unit. The complainants, we were told, made a report internally and to the Office of the Ombudsman.
However, at this time, we are unable to reveal the identity of that person because no charges have been formally made.
When Amandala asked the Police Minister for updates on the allegations made of unwanted sexual advances in the GSU, he told us that he would meet with ComPol tomorrow in Belmopan to check the status of investigations in the matter and the actions taken.