While we had the opportunity, we asked the Commissioner about the appointment of Alifa Elrington as the new Head of the Prosecution Branch.
As we told you, that branch is made up almost entirely of police officers who specialize in the prosecution of criminal cases at the Magistrate's Court around the country. The branch was being led temporarily by Superintendent Carol Tucker, the officer in charge. But now that Elrington has been appointed, what's the new hierarchy at the Prosecution Branch?
Commissioner Williams said that he hopes that Elrington will be able to train the police prosecutors, and advise on how to bring stronger cases against summary jurisdiction offenders:
Chester Williams - Police Commissioner
"Superintendent Tucker is a professional, and she does understand that the role at Prosecution Branch is one that falls within the legal realms. And Miss Alifa Elrington is a senior attorney. Having been practicing in Belize for a number of years, she comes with a wealth of experience and knowledge to the table. Prior to her, we had Miss Hawke, and we also had Miss Trienna Young, who headed prosecution branch, as civilians, considering the fact that they are trained attorneys. And so, we welcome Miss Elrington. We believe that she will add to the good work that Miss Tucker have been doing at Prosecution Branch, since she was holding over after Miss Trienna Young left. So, we see good things happening. We want to see how best she, Miss Alifa, can provide training to our prosecutors as well. I know Miss Trienna Young still assist us during training. But, if we have 2 attorneys, Miss Trienna Young and Miss Alifa doing the training for us, then that is a plus to us. At the end of the day, what we want to achieve to ensure that the cases that we prosecute before the court are prosecuted, and that our prosecutors have the level of expertise to be able to forward these cases to a successful result."
Elrington has reached out to us to stress just what Williams said, that - contrary to what we reported - she is not the first trained civilian attorney to act as senior crown counsel heading the department. She adds that the post was not created for her and that her presence does not disrupt the police command structure.
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