We also asked the commissioner about police shakedowns at the Hattieville police checkpoint. Or, what used to be the checkpoint because the Compol today said he's shutting it down, because corrupt cops won't give the public a break.
This is after earlier this month - PC Jairo Amador was accused of extorting a driver for 100 US dollars to avoid arrest.
Commissioner Williams said that was one of two complaints about that checkpoint he received on October first:
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"It's an embarrassment and on that particular day there were 2 complaints of extortion at the checkpoint. Unfortunately, the other person chose not to give a report and just gave the information in terms of what transpired with him, but he was relieve of $25 at the checkpoint by the same police officer. because when he saw the policeman picture on the news, he messages me and say that was the same officer that extorted me as well."
"Just this morning I ordered that the checkpoint at Hattieville be taken down for the simple fact that we are getting too much complaints of extortion from that checkpoint. While we want to do road policing, it must not be at the expense of the Belizean people being shaken down by police officers at checkpoint and so my directive this morning was that we'll take down the Hattieville checkpoint and we'll do more highway patrols, but not focused on traffic violations. We want the highway patrols to be more of an enforcement unit dealing with human trafficking, firearm trafficking, drug trafficking and human smuggling. So we are looking more at road policing as opposed to having these checkpoints where officers are shaking down the good people of this country."
Jules Vasquez
"It has to be frustrating for you, sir. I know how hands-on you are that it's such a bedevilling problem that you need to take down an effective interdiction tool just because you can't find a set of honest police to do it."
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"Certainly, it is frustrating. We try our best to rebrand the police to reform and to provide better service to the people and certainly, not all police in Hattieville are like that. There are majority, and I can say 90% and over are honest police, but when you have that one in the bunch who is just so dishonest and do these sort of things, it makes the entire department looks bad. And so to be able to remove that cancer, we have to cut it out. If not, it remains there as a malignant tumor."
