| Police Drag Feet on Channel 7 Arson Investigation | | Fri, May 13, 2005 | |
 Usually the news in this headline is about something big that's happening
in the community but tonight it is about us, right here at Channel 7.
On Wednesday Brian Neal, known to us as Easy B, came to Channel 7
to tell us that he had been hired to burn down our studio here at the corner
of Dean and Albert Street. He told us that he was offered $3,000 to do the job
by a man from the Belize Rural North Area. You may have heard the story before
because the same man was hired last week to set fire to WAVE Radio and
that story has since been told on the UDP's WAVE Radio and The GUARDIAN
Newspaper.
With all that media exposure, you may be saying: "one man hired
to burn down two buildings? - sounds unlikely," and we might say that
too, in fact we might add that it sounds like some overheated paranoid conspiracy.
But, we assure you, we have investigated the story and it is authentic, the
threat is real.
How do we reach that conclusion? Brian Neal last week made a sworn statement
to police and as proof of his claim made a telephone call to the man who hired
him to burn down WAVE FM. When he made the call, the detective at the
CIB Office was allowed to listen in as the contractor gave him directives on
how the arson should be carried out and with what. That was one week ago, and
the police, even after eavesdropping on the very disturbing phone call, did
nothing. This week, after the UDP beefed up security making arson difficult,
the contractor, who did not know the police were on to him, directed him to
burn down Channel 7 instead.
It's the kind of thing best left for the police to handle and that's just
what we did. 48 hours ago, when we became aware of the threat, we contacted
the police and asked them to investigate. But that hasn't worked, and tonight,
that's why we are coming to you our biewers. By all appearances, the police
have done nothing about this very serious and substantiated claim.
Despite overwhelming evidence, and a clear identification of the man doing
the hiring, that person has not been arrested or even taken in for questioning.
More than that, police were today trying to arrest the whistleblower Mark Neal
on an old charge. All of this tells us that police are not only dragging their
feet on the real case, they are working against our interests which is the safety
of Channel 7 and the neighborhood around it.
News Director Jules Vasquez, who made a formal police complaint on Thursday
asking for their assistance, told Keith Swift what's so wrong and so worrying
about the way police have approached the matter.
Jules Vasquez, Channel 7
News Director
"What really concerns me about the manner in which this has been handled
is that I went to Mr. Puga, the second in charge of CIB, I made a statement
on Wednesday morning at 9 am. I know him very well and I have a lot of confidence
in him as a professional and he told they were taking it very seriously because
it was a serious complaint. However thereafter I learnt that investigation,
the Criminal Investigation Branch's investigation, has been told to stand down
and that the Special Branch will investigate which is completely contradictory
because the Special Branch does not investigate, it gathers intelligence and
all they do really is conduct surveillance on people. So when there is a crime,
as there is in this case clearly the crime of abetment, and the Special Branch
is the investigating unit it tells me that no one, or the senior command of
the Police Department, doesn't want to do anything about this. We will sit back
and watch because that's what Special Branch does, it watches."
"Before I went to Mr. Puga I called the Commissioner of Police, a person
whom I have known for many years and in whom I have confidence he wants to do
the right thing. I called him and told him the seriousness of it. He agreed
that it was very serious, that it is a quite complicated matter but that they
will follow up on it seriously. I know on that night the Crimes Investigation
Branch was conducting seurviellienace on Channel 7 in the fear that something
might happen; so that's how seriously they took it. But after that a directive
came from the senior command of the Department, we assume, that the CIB is no
longer to handle it. I called Mr. Westby about this and he assured me that he's
working on it and he takes it seriously but he cannot disucss the details on
the phone. Now when the head of our security forces is unable to talk on cellphones
it is a very worrying development. Anyway, there is no indication that they
are doing something serious about it other than trying to imprison the person
who is making the complaint. It sounds incredible but it is true. They've been
trying to arrest him all day today. They followed him, the Special Branch is
following him, and they followed him to Channel 7 when he came here this morning
to speak to him. I know they followed him because they came here after he left
to try and execute a warrant for his arrest at Channel 7, a place that he has
only come to know briefly in the past 2 days. So they are tracking him and they
seek to arrest him on an old charge, 2 or 3 years old, for which he agrees he
owes the court a fine. But they are seeking to execute that when the person
who hired him to burn down Channel 7 has not even been taken in for questioning.
So it shows me that not only are the police not interested in protecting Channel
7 in anyway, but in fact they are interested in protecting the person who has
expressed an interest, who has hired someone, to burn down Channel 7 and they
are trying to arrest the person who is the whistleblower in this. It is inexplicable.
It is a show of absolute disconcern for this company, this media house, by the
Police Department and I am calling out the Commissioner of Police Gerald Westby.
I put the matter in his hands, he told he would take it seriously, he has not.
Upon whose directives he is acting, I do not know but I would wish it were not
his own. It's a very concerning thing because if you watch there is now apparently
a deliberate strategy called, 'wait and see,' which is let's wait and see what
the looters do on Albert Street for half-hour to forty-five minutes. Let's wait
and see what happens with this contractor to a crime who wants to burn down
Channel 7. Let's not act, let's wait and see. That is very concerning to me."
Keith Swift,
Jules are you afraid? Are you concerned?
Jules Vasquez,
"I am not afraid for Channel 7 per se because we have taken additional
security measures and at a certain point the best you can do is the best you
can do and what's to be must be. What concerns me is the inaction by the Police
Department, the contrary action by the Police Department; their absolute lack
of concern for the safety of this media entity and the buildings around it.
That to me is frightening and concerning. That is a change and that is a new
reality we have to adjust to: that the Police Department is not interested in
acting in a purposeful way and a deliberate way to bring in, question, and charge
those who are interested, or that person who is interested, in executing an
arson on Channel 7."
Again, the official police position, as we understand it, is that Brian
Neal's statement explaining the contract he was given is hearsay and the Special
Branch will continue to follow the case. As for Neal, up to this evening, he
had gone to the court to make arrangements to start paying on the fine he has
outstanding. Police had also gone to his house to arrest him. He declined to
go on air this evening.
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