Posted: Thursday, September 26, 2024. 9:36 am CST.
By Zoila Palma Gonzalez: Commissioner of Police Chester Williams was reportedly assaulted by a Belizean American during the Orange Walk carnival road march.
Jevon McKay pled guilty to aggravated assault after he pushed COMPOL Williams when the commissioner cautioned him about public drinking since McKay had a beer bottle in his hand.
McKay was fined $1500 and the Commissioner says that it was a “slap on the wrist, and a slap in the face of the police.”
“The issue with Jevon Mckay is one that I consider to be of a serious concern. We can’t have a society where people abuse or take advantage of law enforcement officers when they’re doing their duties,” Williams said.
“I discharged my duties with utmost professionalism. I saw him with the bottle, I walked up to him, I spoke to him nicely, sir you cannot consume alcohol out here in the bottle, kindly give me the bottle. I don’t know how best I could have said it. When I reached for the bottle, he pushed my hand, I tried to reach for it again, saying to him, you need to surrender the bottle, he pushed me again and he grabbed me in the shirt. He held me for about a minute, pulling my shirt until the zip tore open. What else could I have done? I had a baton, I could have used it, and justifiably so too,” the Commissioner added.
However, he says that he believes in deescalating issues and made his report.
“I believe that the sentence of $1,500 is a slap on the wrist and the fact that he resides in the US, to give him time to pay is a further slap in the face of the police and this country. It ought not to happen. The same way I agree with you this morning on the show where we can’t have a system where police believe they can do people what they want. We must be strict with police to make sure that they do not violate the powers they have, but equally, we must be strict with the public so they understand that they cannot abuse or assault the police when the police is doing their duties, that can’t happen,” COMPOL Williams further reiterated.
In addition, he said that when a public officer is performing a public duty, assaulting that public officer should be viewed as a grave crime against the state and anybody who did so should be held to account.
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The post COMPOL says charge for man who assaulted country’s police chief is ‘slap on the wrist’ appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
Posted: Thursday, September 26, 2024. 9:36 am CST. By Zoila Palma Gonzalez: Commissioner of Police Chester Williams was reportedly assaulted by a Belizean American during the
The post COMPOL says charge for man who assaulted country’s police chief is ‘slap on the wrist’ appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
