On Tuesday, former Collet Area Representative Patrick Faber made headlines when he was arrested and charged just moments after delivering a statement alongside Opposition Leader Tracy Taegar-Panton at a U.D.P. press conference in Belize City. Faber is accused of assaulting a police officer and obstructing the officer from performing his duties. In a viral video, he is seen holding a camera phone close to the officer’s face and refusing to step away when asked. We spoke with outgoing Commissioner of Police Chester Williams for his comments on the incident. Here’s what he had to say.
Chester Williams, Former Commissioner of Police
“I think those two police officers need to be commended. They were extremely calm, extremely patient, and extremely professional. I personally, and when I said people, when I said to people when I saw the video, I said to them, if I were those police, I would’ve thumped him. I have, I said that. He was certainly provocative and intimidating. We have said over and over, there’s nothing wrong for any citizen to record the police. The police are there performing a duty. We have nothing to hide. Our actions can be recorded by anybody, but while you do you cannot obstruct the police. So for him to be all up in the face of the police and for OJ to be so cynical yesterday insinuating to the media that they’re assaulting him because cameras are so close. That was the stupidest excuse, right? The cameras yesterday were not coming into his space. He stood there for an interview. In the case of the police and Mr. Faber, even as the police told him, give me working space, just step back a bit, he constantly was in the face of the police. And when the police went upstairs, the way he climbed up the stairs, going after the police. That was unnecessary. Then he was here to the police, that the police were assaulting a public officer- public officer. Really the law is clear if you assault a public officer in the execution of their duty, it did not say if you assault a public officer who may be drinking or who may be drunk, right? If you are drinking or you are drunk, even if you are a police and you’re out there under the influence, your duties as a police officer is removed. You cannot then shield yourself with the law to say that you are executing your duty while you were drunk. The law doesn’t cover you there. So we must ensure we apply the law the way it should. And for him to say he’s going to make a counter complaint against the police or a cross complaint, it is not going well. I’m not the commissioner no more, but I don’t think that it is going to be entertained. And I gave up instruction yesterday that it must not be entertained again.”
Britney Gordon
“Have we confirmed that Mr. Faber was driving under the influence?”
Chester Williams
“ They, again, the police officers dropped the ball, and I guess perhaps they did because of the inter intimidating factors that he applied on them. They did not ask him for a blood urine sample, so the bowel was dropped there.”