Once again police week has gotten off to a bumpy start with a string of traffic offences brought against senior investigator Inspector Cardinal Smith. But despite that public embarrassment the department is soldiering on determined to get its positive message across to the community this week.
Once again that means going into those so-called hot spots, notoriously hostile to the so-called 'Babylon.' Today we followed them into those areas, and found the police talking the talk, and the community wondering when they're gonna walk the walk.
Keith Swift Reporting,
It is a walk we have all seen before and it is almost synonymous with police week: a senior police officer leading junior officers into the so-called hot spots with no guns, no batons, and minus the swagger. Today they offered only fliers and an offering to make peace.
[Assistant Police Commissioner Maureen Leslie trekking through neighborhood with junior officers in tow: "This is one of the reasons why I am out here, to here from you the people what are your concerns."]
Today it was Assistant Commissioner of police Maureen Leslie and though the trek through the city streets and alleys make for good TV and an even better photo-op the city's top cop says think again. Leslie says the visits to these hot spots are about more than good visuals; it's about trying to forge a closer tie with the community. For the Assistant Commissioner this is as real as it gets.
Maureen Leslie, Assistant Commissioner of Police
"I am a genuine person. Anyone who has worked with me for the past 31 years know that what you see is what you get. I don't play games and I don't this photo-op as you call it. I want to convince the man on the street. Not so much the man in the office but the simple common person on the street here that the police officers are here for everybody; an equal show of our time, our patience, and our response shared equally. So I am out here personally to try and convince them as much as possible that we are here for them. At the same time I am opening my door for them to come in one on one and talk to me."
Yes it is a message we have all heard before but for one Kraal Road family it sounded good this time around.
Frank Knight, Kraal Road Resident
"Yes I do. I do believe they are doing a good job and I tell them that too."
Q: You also had a complaint for them though.
Frank Knight,
"Well I them the police presence should be here 24 hours a day and it isn't."
And while the police met acceptance in that yard, in another there was apprehension, which no amount of public relations could quell.
Kraal Road Resident,
"They say they are making peace. But you can't make peace with somebody and you are disrespecting him or her. People will tell them to stop harassing the boys and they would say to shut up because they don't care if we go and complain to the media. So that is disrespect if they are a corporal and do things like that. So we just want Mr. Chester know because it pure foolishness those boys are doing."
Q: Overall you think the police are doing a good job?
Kraal Road Resident,
"Some of them. You just have some of them who have things against other people."
And that is exactly why Inspector of Police Chester Williams will tell you policing is not an exact science. Officers are prone to behaving badly and that is why they claim to be so earnestly seeking this partnership with the community.
Inspector Chester Williams, Patrol Branch
"I implore everyone to whenever you see the police, you don't need to feel fear. The police are the friends of everyone. We are here to work with the community and in order us to fight crime we must have that community effort. So we ask them to don't have that fear in the police. The police are your friends. Communicate with the police and see what the reception will be from the police before you reach some sort of fear or whatever."
It's well meant, but it sounds a lot like rhetoric that these residents have heard before - this year it's up to the department to make good on it.
Tomorrow in Belize City, the police department will host an open day at the Queen Street Station.