Police and Civilians Clash in Viral Video

The Belize Police Department is once again under fire, this time, in Corozal. A shocking video is making the rounds, showing what appears to be a full-blown brawl between police officers and civilians. In the footage, several individuals, including a woman, are seen being struck repeatedly with what look like police batons. It all started with a routine traffic stop: a man riding a motorcycle without a taillight refused to pull over, leading officers straight to his family’s home. But what should have been a simple stop quickly spiraled into chaos. Family members allegedly fought back with pint bottles, sticks, and even a metal bar, leaving several officers injured. Now, multiple people are facing serious charges, and the investigation is far from over.

 

Dr. Richard Rosado, Commissioner of Police

“Police officers attached to the Corozal police formation were escorting the complainant to the police station when their attention was drawn to a male person who was driving a motorcycle with no headlights illuminated and the male person was also not wearing a helmet. Police sought to stop the individual, however, he refused to stop. Police then followed the individual to an area and upon detaining him and seeking to leave the location, a group of individuals, some of whom were armed with bottles, surrounding the police mobile, thereby preventing the police from leaving. The police officers then requested assistance from the Quick Response Team who arrived at the location approximately ten minutes later, at which time the group of individuals who were relatives of the persons who were detained were still preventing the police from leaving. The situation quickly escalated where several individuals were injured, including four police officers. We have launched both a criminal and a disciplinary investigation into the matter. The video that was shown to me, the behavior that I have seen from one of the police officers, at least one of the officers is inconsistent with the standard expected from our police officers. But the department, I must add, has a zero-tolerance approach to police brutality and hence the reason we have instituted both a criminal and a disciplinary investigation to ascertain what exactly transpired. I recognize the incidents that have been happening and I want to reaffirm our commitment to the principle of community policing and I want to reaffirm the community that we are taking decisive action to deal with these incidents whenever it arises and we are dealing with it as quickly and as thoroughly as possible.”