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A female police constable who was beaten up by one of her own male counterparts faces an uphill battle - after her complaint was dismissed by a police tribunal.
The assault happened at the end of May in Belmopan when a group of police officers were returning from a recreation trip to Hopkins. When they got to Belmopan, they stopped at the home of Constable Elvin Ek, one of the male constables who had been on the trip. The allegation is that suddenly, he strode out to the vehicle where the female officer was sitting, pulled open the door, and started punching her in the face. She alleges that he then proceeded to drag her out the vehicle by her hair, while punching her in the face and head.
Her injuries were classified by a doctor as harm and the Constable told her that he attacked her because he mistook her for someone else. He was charged criminally for harm and disciplinarily. The disciplinary case was dismissed by the Police tribunal on Monday.
The incident has left the victim traumatized and she now has to receive counseling weekly. And, making it worse, she claims that personnel from the Professional Standards Branch actively encouraged her to drop the case for a thousand dollars. When she didn't, the disciplinary case quickly fell apart- even though the female constable has a text message from Constable Ek as proof of the constable admitting to beating her.
The criminal case - which is also being prosecuted by police - goes back to court in October. For background, the two officers had no relationship and had just started working together.
