Gino Peck
Twenty-three year veteran of the Belize Police Department, Corporal Gino Peck, will stand in court on Friday to have sentence imposed upon him. On Monday, he was found guilty of possession of unlicensed ammunition and possession of prohibited ammunition. The court ruling stunned Peck and his attorney asked for time to make mitigation pleas, before sentencing is handed down. Peck, by all accounts an exemplary officer, was charged after his home was searched on January twenty-first, 2012 by the Gang Suppression Unit, and a weapon and numerous rounds of ammunition were found. The story made serious waves back then, and created tension in the Belize Police Department. And it is doing so again in a bigger way, after Peck was convicted and is likely looking at a jail sentence. Commissioner of Police Allen Whylie had not taken up that post yet when Peck was arrested, but today he weighed in on the matter. According to Whylie, the matter could have been handled very differently…and he and the Belize Police Department are fully behind their falling brother.
Allen Whylie, Commissioner of Police
“Myself, as the Commissioner, is deeply sadden at the turn of events and I am certain that the members of the Belize Police Department are also sadden and disappointed at the results. I want to say that the department will be fully supporting Corporal Peck and we will be funding the entire fees for him for his legal appeal of his conviction. We are certain or I believe that the matter could be handled differently. It was a matter that was before my tenure; when I took up post, but as I said, we are deeply saddened, but we will be assisting him in his appeal and we hope that the results will be different.”
Reporter
Allen Whylie
“We’ve been informed that it has created some sort of low morale amongst the rank and file of the officers and it has sparks of a go slow. Are you aware of this? And if it is so, how do you plan to address it with your officers?”
Allen Whylie
“Well you know the police organization is a discipline organization and of course we feel for Corporal Peck. He is our brother, he is in good standing, I thought that he was a very excellent and dedicated officer. Of course it is a department of over a thousand people, everybody have their own feeling and opinions. We are a discipline organization as I said. We respect the law, we enforce the law and everything has to take its course. He has been convicted, he has the right to appeal and we will be supporting him in his appeal. Indeed I’ve gathered that there is a text going around, I don’t know where it originated from, it could have been form members of the department or from anyone. But as a discipline organization, we are not allowed to strike, we are not allowed to go slow. But of course people have their rights and other ways of organizing. So I will be speaking to the different district commanders and to ensure that they speak to their personnel and let them be aware of their legal rights of what they can and cannot do. And of course let them know that the administration is supporting Corporal Peck but as a law institution we have got to have respect for the law.”
Support for Gino Peck can be found among the rank and file of the police department. In a most unusual release which points to a rift in the force. The release says the police department is saddened by the manner in which the decision to proceed with criminal charges against Peck was made since it could have been properly dealt with through its own internal disciplinary process. But who made that decision? What is known is that the GSU carried out the bust and the matter ended up in court. The department also says it was not given the opportunity and that a long serving member of the department is facing a jail sentence for a matter that could have been handled internally. To show its support, the department with the assistance of the Ministry of National Security, will pay for all legal fees to appeal Peck’s conviction.
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