Minister Kareem Musa Says No Tolerance for Rogue Cops

Elmer Nah

Commissioner of Police Chester Williams has gone on record to say that he is disappointed with the outcome of a tribunal in which officers allegedly involved in the landing of a drug plane near Bladen in southern Belize have been acquitted. But rogue officers Corporal Elmer Nah and P.C. Caliz are not getting off so easily. ComPol Williams says that he will review the evidence, as presented to the tribunal to see if they had erred in their decision.  While due process and due diligence must prevail, Home Affairs Minister Kareem Musa says he has zero tolerance for rogue cops.

Kareem Musa

Kareem Musa, Minister of Home Affairs

“I believe the charge against Elmer Nah at the tribunal concern the possession of ammunition, excess amount of ammunition. And there is another police officer, I am told, who took the rap to say he is the one who signed out that ammunition. So I don’t want to get into the particulars of the tribunal. I do know the Commissioner of Police will be reviewing the notes of evidence to see if the adjudicator in any way erred, having heard all the evidence that was put before him because from what I understand – again, I would have to check the notes of evidence myself – but the vehicle that officer Richard was saying that the ammunition was in is not the same vehicle that it was in; it was actually in Mister Nah’s vehicle. So those are little things that we have to look at to see if in fact the judge erred in making that decision. It’s a matter of justice and we have to ensure at all times that justice is served. So it is not a matter of me being disappointed or not.”

Duane Moody

“Sir where are we in terms of getting these rogue cops out of the system. I think that has been the issue? These people are engaged in these criminal activities and they remain in the force.”

Kareem Musa

“I don’t see it as an issue of remaining in the force. If you look at our track record just in the last two years, we have dismissed close to a hundred and fifty police officers for instances like this. This is not a done deal, I am telling you that right away when it comes to officer Nah because we have reports, while some of them not formal, we have reports that are very concerning and that we have to look at very seriously. And like you said, we cannot continue to tolerate officers who are rogue – whether it is for neglect, whether it is for abuse or whether it is for corruption, we will not tolerate that. And we have a very proud track record in the last two years of dismissing those officers. And we will continue to do so, but we have to do so again with a mind that justice must be served, there is a process.”