Yesterday we told you about 26-year-old Joshua Smith the man who police showered with rubber bullets. But in their defense, Smith's mother said he was acting uncontrollably, and wielding weapons presumably having a violent episode. But she also explained that, as far as they know, he has never shown signs of mental illness. Still, the family's attorney, Norman Rodriguez, told us yesterday that despite all of this, the police should have practiced more restraint, rather than pummeling him with rubber bullets. His entire face and torso were covered in injuries and his mother said it will take some time before the swelling goes down for them to assess any long-term damage.
The ComPol said yesterday that the police were responding to a cry for help and were dealing with a man armed with a knife and a hammer so they did what they had to do to subdue him. Today on Sunup, he explained why it wasn't so easy for them to just aim for his legs as Rodriguez suggested:
Chester Williams - Commissioner of Police
"Had they not responded and something more severe were to happen then you'd have heard, oh well we called the police and they didn't come and because the police didn't come, this one get hurt and that one get hurt. So I have to be fair with the police officer where this is concerned and at the end of the day from what I understand, when the police officers got there, he was ordered to put down the knife and the machete and her refused and he was constantly aggression the police and that's the reason why police officers had to use the non-lethal bullets on him. And I listened to the attorney for the family, Norman Rodriguez, when he said the police officers ought to have shot for the lower limb, what he doesn't understand is these non-lethal rubber bullets are a number of pellets in a cartridge, those are rubber pellets in a cartridge and so the distance from which the police officer was shooting, they can't just aim from your lower extremities because when the pellet let go it opens, so it certainly is not going to catch his lower limbs but will also catch the body."
Brandon Usher
"But his face?"
Chester Williams
"If you aim for the person from a distance, it's like a cast net, it does not go directly, so it could catch your face, it could catch your body, it could catch your foot, and the police officers was somewhat not comfortable approaching him up close because a man with a knife and a hammer can be extremely deadly even from ten feet. So I have to be fair, as much as yes, we are investigating, I have to be fair to the police officers who responded because had they not responded, it certainly could have been worse."
The Human Rights Commission of Belize has released a statement on this incident in which the organization is demanding that the officers involved be held to account for the injuries which Joshua Smith suffered.
The organization says, quote, "The Commission is not against the use of rubber bullets but believes that the amount of force used to de-escalate this situation was NOT necessary The officers who are responsible must be punished"
The Commission points out that the police have benefitted from mental health training from the Ministry of Health's Mental Health Department. This topic was taken so seriously, that a Mental Health Training Manual was specifically prepared for the police department in 2007.
