Last night the police department was shaken after news went out that a well-known police constable had apparently taken his own life. It happened around 7:00 pm on Aloe Vera Street in the Lake Independence Area of Belize City. Police Constable #1200 Shannon Ramirez was staying at a house which is rented by a number of police officers. No one in the neighborhood heard a gin go off, but he was found dead with a shot to the head. Police believe it is a suicide. Police have not released any details but this morning the police community relations officer Douglas Hyde told us that the Department is saddened:..
Douglas Hyde, Public Relations Coordinator
"Emotionally I felt it too when I heard the news a couple seconds after it happened. We work very closely. Actually he came through community policing before he actually went to one of the precincts, so it was more of an emotional hurt to us. I think after hearing the different police officers last night, it was like a shock and stunned, because he has never shown any signs to us that he is emotionally depressed, so we didn't see that angle to say that, that would have happened."
Jules Vasquez
"Is there any counseling service that is offered for police officers to try and navigate their way through this mind field of social ills that lies in wait for them?"
Douglas Hyde, Public Relations Coordinator
"I know the department over the past couple of months, specifically eastern division, we've been looking at persons to work closely with us specifically when it comes to referrals because we've notice that we have police officers who we identified with such challenging situations and so we've refereed them to the counseling center human development over the past and specifically persons who work in the area of counseling."
Ramirez had an ongoing relationship with a female officer.
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