BELIZE CITY. Mon. Feb. 7, 2022– A video being circulated on social media over the weekend shows a uniformed police officer assaulting a civilian. In the video, the police officer can be seen throwing punches at a man sitting on the steps of a home. As the attack unfolded, another police officer is seen standing nearby and observing the confrontation, but hesitating to intervene.

The incident was captured by an onlooker, who recorded the attack with the video camera of a mobile phone.

The two police officers involved in the confrontation have not yet been identified, and the reason for the attack is yet unknown. When questioned by reporters today, the Police Department’s Communications Director, ASP Yearwood, did not have much to say, since no official police report on the incident had been made. He is encouraging the victim of the attack to make an official report. “I am not going to comment on something like that, because we need a virtual complaint for me to have an official report. We would want to encourage that victim to come and visit the Professional Standard Branch and make a formal complaint, and then I would be able to further comment on that matter,” he said.

When asked if the officer’s actions were incriminating, however, Yearwood responded, “That is more than damning, and [as] I said, we at the department don’t just turn a blind eye to that type of behavior, but it would be better if we have an actual complaint, and I’m not saying that we will not sanction that officer, but we would want better results, for that person suffered that form of abuse publicly, especially being caught on camera. And we want to explain to the public that we don’t tolerate abuse by police officers. We have seen in the past where police have been charged, have been dealt with, and some have been dismissed for that kind of behavior.”

Currently, an internal investigation is being conducted.