By Breaking Belize News Staff: The Belize Police Department has rejected allegations that officers are engaging in preventative detention, insisting that individuals are detained only when supported by investigative leads or intelligence.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Stacy Smith addressed the controversy during Wednesday’s police press briefing, responding to concerns raised by the Association of Defence Attorneys over what it describes as a pattern of arbitrary detentions.
As Breaking Belize News reported on Tuesday, the Association of Defence Attorneys has accused police of repeatedly detaining individuals without charges, raising concerns about the use of the Constitution’s 48-hour detention limit and restrictions on access to legal representation.
Smith maintained that preventative detention is not a practice employed by the department and acknowledged that detaining individuals without lawful justification would constitute an abuse of power.
She further argued that indiscriminately detaining people would represent a waste of police resources.
The Association of Defence Attorneys, in a statement dated October 22, raised concerns about repeated detention of individuals without charges, particularly in Belize City and San Ignacio.
Attorney Orson Elrington has argued that the Constitution’s 48-hour detention limit does not give police unrestricted authority to detain individuals without sufficient lawful grounds.
Responding to those allegations, Smith insisted that police detentions are supported by intelligence or concrete investigative leads and that individuals taken into custody are afforded their constitutional rights.
She also maintained that detained persons are provided with the required documentation outlining their rights while in police custody.
The controversy follows a landmark High Court ruling declaring the 2020 states of emergency unconstitutional, which has renewed scrutiny of the legal limits of police powers and the detention of suspected gang members.
Smith emphasized that the department would continue pursuing investigative leads and taking action to disrupt criminal activity, but insisted those efforts would remain within the law.
The post Police reject accusations of unlawful preventative detention, insist arrests are based on intelligence and investigations appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
By Breaking Belize News Staff: The Belize Police Department has rejected allegations that officers are engaging in preventative detention, insisting that individuals are detained only when supported by investigative leads or intelligence. Assistant Superintendent of Police Stacy Smith addressed the controversy during Wednesday’s police press briefing, responding to concerns raised by the Association of Defence
The post Police reject accusations of unlawful preventative detention, insist arrests are based on intelligence and investigations appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
