And the officers also had to protect their own homes, since many of them were also damaged in the hurricane. And while the department is looking for ways to assist them financially, they must still report to work since, as the ComPol explained, that is the life of a police officer.
But as for the department's assets, the ComPol assured anyone who may be thinking of committing some criminal activity that the detention cells are still intact.
Courtney Menzies:
"Were there a lot of police officers who may have lost their own homes to the storm?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"Yes we do have a number of police officers who suffered losses as a result of this storm, particularly in Belize city. That is where the bulk of those officers are and from a welfare standpoint we are doing what we can to see how we can assist those officers. Yes we'll not be able to replace every loss that they may have suffered but I have already directed the chair of our trust fund subcommittee to see if we can help to replenish some of their losses. I am sure that they will be able to get other assistance perhaps through NEMO, or through their respective area representative but from the department's standpoint we are going to do as best as we can to help them to recover."
Reporter:
"Are they expected to be on the job while they try to get their lives back on track?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"Unfortunately that's the life of a police. We have to keep on working.. and again I have always said that as police officers, we are a special breed of people and sometimes people don't understand but when you're in it, you really and truly get to understand and I'm sure that as members of the media you can appreciate that fact as well that the police work is a lot and as much as we are suffering ourselves, we still have to care for others more than we're caring for ourselves."
Courtney Menzies:
"What about the department's own property, were there any detention cells that might have gotten flooded or any vehicles that might have been ruined during the storm?"
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"If there any person with a criminal mindset who would have believed that the cellblock might have been destroyed by the storm, no no no, Lisa did not take the cellblock, the cellblock remains in proper working condition and in terms of our infrastructural damage to police buildings, we didn't suffer much per se, we find that, I think only some of the precinct in Belize City, precinct 1 in particular, that had flood issues, other than that, I think the police stationing glass point, I think the zinc or something might have been blown off but very minimal infrastructural damage to our police buildings. In terms of our vehicles, none of our vehicles suffered any damage due to the storm."
