ComPol Williams Defends Dismissal of officer who killed GG’s Dog

An officer stationed at the Governor General’s residence has been dismissed from the Belize Police Department after fatally shooting the Governor General’s pet dog. Police Constable Deandre Reid was charged with discharging a firearm without authorisation following the incident on May 20, 2024.

On Thursday, the Police Commissioner Chester Williams, confirmed the dismissal, stating, “The matter went before a tribunal; the tribunal found him guilty, dismissal was recommended, and I upheld the decision.”

However, News 5 reported that leaked reports show that the tribunal recommended a fine, not dismissal. It stated that Reid was initially fined $250, with the fine to be paid in two installments.

Today, reporters asked Commissioner Williams about this discrepancy. Williams said that he erred when he told reporters on Wednesday that a tribunal recommended the dismissal of P.C. Reid.

Williams said, “The only person who has authority to dismiss a police officer is the commissioner of police,” he said. “The law do provides the Police Act that in circumstances where the commissioner believes that the punishment emitted by the tribunal is either too lenient, he can opt it; if it’s too harsh, he can reduce it. And so in the circumstances, considering the nature of what the officer did, I exercised my power under the police act, and I opted for the punishment from a fine to a dismissal,” ComPol Williams added.

However, the police diary shows a record of the dog’s aggressive behaviour. According to Williams, he was not aware of such records.

Williams went on to say, “I saw no aggression. I saw a situation where the dog arrived at the door, saw the police, retreated, and the police followed the dog and shot the dog.”

He questioned, “Wouldn’t it be reasonable to say that when a dog retreated, the police should not have followed the dog?” In his view, the situation could have been avoided if the officer had remained in the booth instead of chasing the dog.