Last Friday, we showed you the Chester Williams' mural - or at least, what used to be his mural.
It lasted one whole month before it was unceremoniously painted over. You heard the reason from the new Commissioner of Police and the reaction from the artist, Raquel Rodriguez. But how does Williams feel about being erased from the police academy? Well, we met up with him today in Belmopan to get his side of this mural mess. Courtney Menzies has this story.
Now you see Chester's mural, now you don't - that was how quickly this painting of the former Commissioner of Police disappeared from one of the walls on the Training Academy's parade square. It was supposed to honor the longest serving ComPol, and while Williams said it was initially grateful, now he's just disappointed.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"To be honest I was a bit disappointed and I believe that it was something really petty to have been done. The truth is with the issue of that mural, I was not aware of the mural being placed there any at all and I was as surprised as others were on the day of the official handing over to see the mural. I was told that it was the dean, the commandant and Raquel who decided they were going to do the mural to honor me as the longest serving commissioner and for the work that I did during my tenure as commissioner."
"To have seen it just removed in the way it was done, certainly was disappointing to say the least."
But while the new Commissioner of Police explained the reason for the cover-up, Williams says he's not buying it. And while the original painting had some mistakes, Williams explains that that could've been easily fixed
Courtney Menzies:
"What do you make of the explanation that it was the family members of the fallen officers who had paid for those plaques to be there and that they were upset that their family members' names were sort of erased to make space for the mural?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"That is not true. The plaque that bears the name of the fallen officers is there, it's the middle plaque. We don't have one plaque for one fallen police officer. If you would look at the plaque in the middle, there is sufficient space for many many more fallen officers because the plaque is for officers who were killed in the line of duty, it is not officers who would have died of natural causes or whatever the case may be. So the one that is in the middle bears a number of names and there is space to put many more names, I would hope that they wouldn't have to full that plaque."
"The cross belt or what we Sam Brown belt is on the wrong side and the medals are also on the wrong side, the medals go on the left shoulder but those were things that the artist could have corrected in like an hour, it's just a matter of painting out the medals and the Sam Brown belt and put it on the other side, so that could have been done in an hour's time. So if they used that as an explanation or an excuse for having removed the entire mural again that would make no sense."
And Williams laments that he expected better from the department he served for over 3 decades.
Courtney's Menzies
"Would you hope that maybe the new commissioner and Raquel would work something out to put back the mural?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"I would hold my breath on Raquel but I won't hold my breath on the new commissioner to do that. They can erase what they want of me, the truth be told, my record as commissioner of police will always be there and while there may not be a mural of me at the academy, it does not change who I am. When I traverse this country even now, the amount of compliments I continue to get from people, it says a lot to me, that there are many out there who do appreciate the service I gave to this country."
"While I would have expected that the department I served for so many years and reached the pinnacle of that profession that there would have been more respect given, the fact that there is none, I will not hold that against people who want to disrespect me."
"When my predecessor left office, he made a plaque that is headed "persons who have served as commissioner of police" and only his name is on it and when you all go to the office, you would see it there. As much as myself and my predecessor had diverse views and diverse issues, I never saw it in me to disrespect him that way I was disrespected. I left that thing right where he left it."
"I saw that with Hughington Williams and Zetina, they went next to blows but again, when Hughington became commissioner, Zetina did not undo what Williams did, he left it there and kept going. so this is like the first time I actually saw a commissioner undo something that was put in place for his predecessor, it's the first time. But like I said, I hold no qualms, I have respect for Mr Rosado and I have said to him when I left office that if he would ever need my help or my advise on an issue, I will be there for him."
Compol Rosado stresses that the family who donated the wall was truly upset about it being painted over.
