Last night, you heard Police Commissioner Chester Williams discussing the most recent case of police brutality, which was caught on camera in Santa Cruz Village, Stann Creek. The victim was identified as 25-year-old Andrew McDougall, a fisherman from Santa Cruz Village who passed away at the KHMH earlier this week. His family insists that the cause of death was the injuries from the assault he suffered at the hands of the cops who tried to detain him for smoking marijuana in public.
He never recovered from those wounds because he had hemophilia, a genetic disease that did not allow his blood to clot properly, or for injuries to heal as quickly as normal healthy adults.
The Commissioner was waiting for the results of the post-mortem, which are now out. So, what were the results, and what do they mean for the officers being accused of excessive behavior? Daniel Ortiz has that story:
Christmas is only two days away, and since the beginning of the Holiday season several weeks ago, hundreds of police officers have been deployed to keep the public safe as they race around trying to buy that last-minute gift for that special someone or the ingredients for the biggest family dinner of the year.
Many honorable cops will be sacrificing that holiday magic with their families to maintain law and order and the public good, but for this Christmas season, their hard work is now overshadowed by the apparently excessive use of force, which was used 19 days ago to detain 25-year-old Andrew Alexander McDougall.
Cell phone footage which captured the initial detention of McDougall on the night of the showdown, shows four police officers - 3 males and what appears to be a female - and McDougall, the only civilian on camera.
One of the cops jumps into the back of the pickup while another officer attempts to get McDougall into the back of the truck. He's resisting that detention, and the camera sees the officer attempting to strong-arm him by lifting him up. But, that first attempt to get him into the pan fails when McDougall's body crashes into the tailgate. That appears to incense the officer who grabs him in a sort of hold, but he is unable to get McDougall into the truck. The other officer inside attempts to lift him into the vehicle, but the cops struggle to get him to comply.
Eventually, the officer struggling on the ground picks up McDougall by the legs and the midsection and body-slams him on top of a bicycle in the truck. The camera picks up an audible "thunk" when he lands inside the truck.
The cop inside immediately kneels down over McDougall, and they appear to struggle while the female officer removes the bicycle from under both of them. You can see McDougall struggle at the bottom of the truck's pan, and a civilian says:
This morning, their Police boss, ComPol Chester, told Nuri Muhammad on KREM's Morning Talkshow that, fundamentally, these bystanders have a right to be outraged.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"The question is, was the degree of force used to restrain the young man reasonably justified in the circumstances? From my perspective, the answer is no. I don't think that there was a need for them to pick up the young man and throw him over the tailgate of the vehicle on a bicycle. That, for me, was too far. The tailgate for the vehicle could open. They could have simply opened the tailgate, put him on the tailgate, and slide him in. But they chose to do it the way they did."
It is reasonably easy to appreciate why McDougall would continue to defy these officers while in their custody. After all, the officers trampled on his human dignity to demonstrate that, in this situation, they have the power. But, McDougall reportedly turned his right into a wrong by damaging the police's mobile.
Chester Williams - Commissioner of Police
"I was not there. I'm told again by the Police that on the way to the Police Station, the young man continued to resist in the police vehicle to the extent that he stamped out the back glass for the police vehicle, and additional force needed to be used to restrain him. Now I don't know if they had handcuffs - if they had him handcuffed. But they could have handcuffed him, and that would have restrained him."
According to the Commissioner, the officers compounded the egregious behavior by failing to take McDougall to see a doctor. He also thinks that the officer who was the on-duty diarist also failed to follow proper police procedure.
Chester Williams
"When they got to the police station with the young man, knowing what they have done to him, they didn't take him to the hospital. They took him to the cell block and locked him down. It was the next day morning that the officer who came to work found that the young man was injured. The young man was then taken to the hospital, where he was treated. [The] doctor classified the injuries as wounding and released him back into the custody of the police. Several things, for me, went wrong, starting with the degree of force used at the detention stage, then the transpiration of the person to the police station, what was done to make sure that he did not continue to behave where he was, in terms of maybe handcuffing him. And then, when they got to the police station, the detaining officers, along with the officer who was working the station diary, had a responsibility because our policy is clear. You are not to take over any injured prisoner from any police officer and put them in any cell block. If a police officer arrives at the station, you are in charge. You have to inspect the person properly to make sure that the person has no injuries. And where the person has any injuries, you are to tell the detaining officer that you're not going to accept the person and have them take the person to the hospital. So, the diarist at the station at the time has some culpability for accepting the injured man."
The ComPol was waiting to see the result of the post-mortem to find out McDougall's cause of death. Well, a copy of that report, dated December 20, 2022 notes: "septic shock", "Post-traumatic necrotizing fasciitis of the right lower extremity", "Multiple Blunt Force Traumatic Injuries", "Hemophilia," and "Blunt force trauma".
According to the Commissioner, these results mean that the officers have a major case to answer to, especially since McDougall passed away.
Chester Williams
"The post-mortem was conducted yesterday, and the doctor certified the cause of death to be a result of blunt force trauma, which simply means that he was beaten. And it is that beating that led to his death. So, based on that, I have instructed the legal office to interdict those officers from duty. CIB Major Crimes is dealing with the investigations. The file should go to the DPP this morning for her advice on the matter, and Professional Standards Branch should be laying disciplinary charges today on the respective officers in that matter. But again, Brother Nuri, I just don't understand. Some police [officers] just don't get it. If you beat a man, you might not get paid. If you don't beat a man, you will get paid. There is no need to be abusive to people in our custody."
And a weary ComPol expressed his frustration that he cannot simply and decisively act to put distance between his department and actions like this, which hurt their public image and brand as the public's protectors.
Chester Williams
"Honestly, I wish I had the authority or power in law to just dismiss them."
Nuri Muhammad - KREM Talk Show Host
"Wow, that's very strict."
Chester Williams
"But I don't, and this is what the public doesn't understand because they would normally [say], 'Oh, Commissioner tolerates that'. I don't tolerate nonsense. I don't have time to tolerate nonsense. Do you feel like I like answering for the stupidness that people do who aren't my children? Police aren't my children. I didn't raise them."
So, the law provides a process that we must go through.
Chester Williams
"If it is that the tribunal was to finish - which certainly will be the case - before the court system, then the consequence for what they did is certainly dismissal, and I personally would not hesitate, so long as they're found guilty, to dismiss them. If it is that you can behave in such a way to the extent that you cause the life of a person just for smoking weed, you can't be a police [officer]."
We also contacted DPP Cheryl-Lynn Vidal to inquire whether or not the police had sent her office the investigation file into McDougall's death. We'll share that answer with you as soon as we know for sure.
