Twenty days ago, the family of the deceased Gregory Bowen announced their intent to sue the police department for his death, which happened while he was in police custody.
During the New Year's Holiday weekend, he was being detained at the Queen Street Police Station, and in-between police checks of the cellblock area, he managed to hang himself using a pair of trousers. Police said that he was not known to be a mental patient, but his family strongly refuted that. They said that police were well aware of his struggles with mental illness, and that they took him for medical assistance the evening of his detention.
The family's attorney, OJ Elrington wrote a lawyer letter last Friday to the Minister of Home Affairs, the Commissioner of Police, and the Attorney General's Ministry.
In that letter, Elrington says, quote, "The wrongful death was a result of the negligence of the Belize Police Department. We are now therefore demanding
1. An undertaking that proper administrative procedures be set up in the Belize Police Department to ensure the protection of persons suffering from mental illness in your custody. 2. An undertaking that facilities to assist suffering from mental illness will be properly equipped [and] 3. Monetary compensation in the sum of $205,00 to cover funeral expenses, pain, suffering, and other damages to which the estate is entitled." End quote.
Elrington warns that if he does not receive a response from the Government within 7 days, he is instructed to institute legal proceedings against them.
