And while the cops are investigating these officers, whose idea was it to put a detainee in the back of a van as if it were a jail cell? Well, surprisingly, we asked the ComPol if this was something normally done and he didn't really have an issue with it.
But, he also seemed a bit defensive of the officers. While he made it abundantly clear that they will face consequences, he chalked it up to an oversight, saying that nobody's perfect.
Courtney Menzies:
"Is this something that is sanctioned though, using the police prisoner van as a detention cell?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"Well, I wouldn't see anything wrong with it, it is a secure way to keep prisoners so long as the engine is running and air is circulating. And in the absence of a police station cell, they're improvising which I cannot fault them for that. But the thing is when they arrived at the police station, they ought to have made sure that the young man was removed from the van and that was where things went wrong."
Reporter:
"Is this routinely done, placing someone inside that van?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"It's the first I'm hearing of it."
Reporter:
"They are saying that he was intoxicated but did he do something else that warranted his detention?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"Well, if a person is intoxicated and behaving disorderly, certainly yes it would warrant a detention, like I said, it is not about what he did or did not do, it's about the fact that the officers placed him in the van and forgot him in there. That for me is the critical thing for us to look at and there's no justification for that and so the officers have to be dealt with."
"While I have seen some discourse on social media to the effect that the officers intentionally left him in the van, I just can't buy that. I don't think that they would do something like that and, again, to prove a person's intent is extremely hard. Again I say, they are human beings and I don't want nobody to think that I'm going to defend the police because I've said that what they did was wrong and they have to be dealt with but at the same time I must be fair, I cannot make assertions that is not supported by evidence."
"Again remember, the police officers were working San Joaquin Festival, it's a long day, they're human being, they get fatigued…"
Reporter:
"That's no excuse, sir."
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"But Hipolito, are you created in heaven and created perfect? Have you done something wrong?"
Reporter:
"A man's life was lost, sir."
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"It doesn't matter, have you not done something wrong in life before? We're all human beings."
Reporter:
"We're talking about life and death, sir. I can understand leaving the engine lights on and thing like that but..."
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"Hipolito, we're all fallible human beings, none of us are perfect, none of us here are without sin, all of us sin, including you. So don't pretend to be perfect, brother. They're human beings, they had a long day, I don't know what happened, I'm not in their minds. I can only go by what I am told."
The ComPol added that according to reports, the officers were not intoxicated, but that the department is indeed bracing for a lawsuit.
And the Prime Minister also shared a few words in a statement. He called the incident, "a tragedy beyond comprehension," and added, quote, "As Prime Minister, I can assure the family of Derrick Uh, and the nation, that no stone will be left unturned in the investigation of events leading to his death. There will be no excuses taken, and no delays in getting to the bottom of what appears, at this time and without medical evidence, to be heinous and criminal neglect." End quote.
