As we told you in our first story, it is a historic first time that eight lawmen have been charged at once for murder. It was a joint effort between the Orange Walk police on the criminal side and the commander of the Professional Standards Branch on the internal side. But, ACP Chester Williams - as a trained attorney - brought the force of his learning and the seniority of his office to an investigation that is very bold. Today he explained that they had to get behind the masks of these members of BSAG:
ACP Chester Williams, Professional Standards Branch, Commander
"It was a difficult one because of the fact that some of the men were wearing masks and you know ow this thing goes when it comes to deal with the investigations where persons are wearing masks so as a part of the investigative process, we have to find a way to go behind the mask and see how we could get those persons captured by the charge. Yes, we were able to gather sufficient evidence against the 7 members of the Belize Defence Force and the police officer in respect of that matter."
Reporter
"Do you believe that these charges are strong enough to hold in court considering the fact that identification may be an issue during the matter of being tried?"
ACP Chester Williams
"That will be a matter to be decided by the court. I am satisfied that we have sufficient to lay the charge and put the matter before the court and the judge will then decide at trial time."
Reporter
"These men clearly seemed to have been operating; one, outside the jurisdiction. What had them in Orange Walk as opposed to wherever they were initially assigned to?"
ACP Chester Williams
"Their actions in dealing with the complaint that they were dealing with, I can state categorically that they have no jurisdiction to have dealt with that matter. That is a matter that would have fallen squarely within the scope of Orange Walk Police [formation]."
Reporter
"This incident once again called into question public confidence in the Police Department. Your response to that?"
ACP Chester Williams
"I will say what I have echoed before, I do understand the public complaints but it is a valid one. It is up to us the police to ensure that we act whenever these things occur and we must do the right thing. It does not benefit either the police or the Belize Defence Force to cover the criminal actions of our members."
According to our sources - the BDF soldiers were advised by their seniors not to cooperate with the investigation.
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