So, since liquor was a feature of this illegal social event, we asked the ComPol about the department's struggle with alcoholism.
2 weeks ago, we told you about that special constable who had a nasty fall at the steps of the Belize City's Magistrate's Court. He appeared intoxicated in uniform, and he had to be helped by his fellow officers. Last week, another cop was stabbed while socializing after his shift was completed - long after curfew hours. On Friday we also reported that a cop was accused of drunk driving when he knocked down a civilian in Concepcion. And yesterday, we told you that several cops were under investigation after they were found drinking in a large group - going against COVID protocols.
The Commissioner told us this evening that he has witnessed some of his officers and their substance abuse:
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"We are policing in tough times. Police officers are human beings just like you and so we are amenable to the ills of society. We are policing in really and truly tough times and I am sure that many of our officers are extremely stressed and maybe to some extent depressed, because of issues encountered on the job, issues encountered in their own homes and yes, people deal with stress differently, some might resort to abusing alcohol, I see some smoke from one cigarette to the next, the chain of cigarette. Some jump in a vehicle and drive and some find other activities to do and we do recognize the fact that we have a number of our officers who truly abuse alcohol and that's the reason why about a month and a half ago I spoke to Miss Ann Cuvas to facilitate sessions for us in each region to deal with police officers who are going through some difficult times. I am happy to say that Miss Cuvas had done those trainings for us and what we did was we identified those police officers who were involved in some police misconduct, those that we know may have some family issues at home, those that we know may have some financial issues and any other police officer who wish to volunteer themselves to partake in those sessions and Miss Ann did those sessions for us in each region free of cost."
The ComPol publicly thanked Ann Cuvas for giving freely of her time to council the officers who decided to participate.
