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Today the Commissioner said it is completely justifiable:

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"I notice that some people are making issue over the quantum of money collected by Mr. Gamboa, but let me say that Mr. Gamboa is in charge of special patrol unit. The special patrol unit that Gamboa is in charge of is responsible to police the St. Martin's area. During the September celebrations time we try as best as we can to keep the residents of this city safe and not only the city, across the country. There are a number of police who when you ask them to work extra, they dont want to work."

"Mr. Gamboa, I demand my commanders to be on the ground, especially one like Gamboa who is in charge of a very sensitive area, the St Martin's area. I require him to be on the ground almost every day because he has a responsibility to ensure that the Martin's area remains peaceful. So, during the time of extraneous, if it is that the officers perform their extraneous duties then they are entitled to be paid for it. That is what it is made for and Extraneous is not something that we have just started to pay, it has been paid from timely memorial. There have been times in the past where officers have collected more than what Gamboa is collecting but no issue has been made of it. So, I don't understand why now an issue is being made over what Mr Gamboa has collected."

Reporter
"Sir, it is only because they are saying that Aaron Gamboa claimed that he worked 211 hours in one month - that is over three thousand dollars in overtime and that would mean that he worked seven hours extra every day, seven days a week. Is that even possible?"

Chester Williams
"I do not agree with what you are saying because if you look at the time sheet - the people who are creating the mischief do have the timesheet - and it has the hours that he works per day. There are some days that he works fifteen - I think there are three days within the spate of time that he works fifteen hours per day. There is nothing wrong with a person working fifteen hours per day. I myself sometimes work over 20 hours per day, but I don't claim, I'm the commissioner of police."

"So it is not to say that Mr. Gamboa is doing anything out of the way and may I remind you that whenever we do Extraneous, it is not the commissioner who authorize the payment, that has to go to the ministry of finance and that is scrutinized with a fine tooth comb, because the ministry of finance need to be sure that whatever we are paying is for hours worked. The people of Belize I can say were satisfied with the police performance during the September celebrations and that had a lot to do with the officers from SPU that rely upon to work in the city and even in the other places across the country to ensure that our citizens who were enjoying the festive season could have done so in a safe environment. So security comes with a cost and the officers have worked and the citizens have benefitted from their work. It is only right that they be paid for it."

Other members of the SPU are also listed as working and earning for very many "extraneous hours" in September.