Public Fights Posing Policing Challenge, Penalties to Increase  

And, though that brawl may have occurred between residents from two feuding communities, ComPol Williams says there has been an increasing number of public fights that are posing a challenge to cops. He spoke to one incident outside of a Belize City nightclub over the weekend involving a group of women. He says the physical altercation stemmed from a love triangle involving basketball athletes.

 

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police

“I looked at the fight in front of Shisha over the weekend and again you can see where a number of ladies, engaged in a fight. From what I am told they are fighting over basketball players that come from abroad that they don’t even know. It makes you really wonder what we are coming to. Nonetheless some of them are in custody and they will be charged and taken before the courts today. I am proposing to the cabinet to increase the penalty for persons who are engaged in unlawful fights in public. I think the current penalty as stipulated in the law is too miniscule and there is a need for us to upgrade that and hopefully that can serve as a deterrent to people to know that if they engage in fights in public it is going to cost their pockets a lot of money.”

 

Reporter

“How does it make you feel to get all these footages being in the month of women month to see these things play out in public eyes.”

 

Chester Williams

“Well it is very dreadful to see that women are behaving in such a way. Normally in society we look up to women. All of us came from women and we expect the women among us are going to display behavior that are worthy of being emulated. But when we see women behaving in such a way it is very distasteful and whenever I get the video footage, I would send it to the police and tell them to arrest and charge. We cannot have a society where people have unlawful fights in public and go uncharged. That cannot be the order of the day.”