It may have been described by the Minister of National Security as
just a regular meeting but Carlos Perdomo who is usually known to be soft spoken
was anything but as he took a very hard line with the senior ranks of the Police
Department yesterday. Perdomo called on the top level officers of the Belize
Police Department to start disciplining those have not been doing their jobs.
As Perdomo explained the country’s security services need to be more efficient
and efficiency means stricter discipline.
Hon. Carlos Perdomo, Minister of National Security
“And if they cannot supervise well, we must bring out the discipline
for demotion. This nonsense about moving people from left to right doesn’t
work. You cannot have a weak corporal, a weak sergeant moving up and down and
so because it is the same sergeant.
We need to bring the discipline. If you cannot work as a sergeant, go back
to corporal and sometimes we do not use that because at the top level we are
not using our supervisory strength. We want to be nice guys because this is
the brotherhood of the police force and if you drink too much, we will try to
hide it for you, if you are weak, we will try to hide it from you, we will send
you to PG, not a lot of work is there.
That is the culture we have to fight against. We need to become efficient
and efficiency means discipline. If I do not perform as a Minister, the Prime
Minister will change me next year, tomorrow. That is proper supervision. You
have to be tough.”
The conference which was attended by sixty officers from all over the
country also addressed present criminal activity, other national threats in
the country and the upcoming municipal elections. The top level police officers
were also briefed on the Harold Crook’s report that was released earlier
this year. Included among the many recommendations are improved community service,
efficiency and discipline within the security forces. The Crook’s report
also highlighted the need for an enhanced witness protection programme, measures
to drastically reduce unsolved murders, improvement of intelligence capability
and the institution of a crime investigations system.
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