Retired Officer Weighs In as Corporal Kenrick Bol Suspension Sparks Debate

The suspension of Police Corporal Kenrick Bol has sparked public debate, and today a former senior member of the Belize Police Department added her voice to the discussion.

Retired officer Yolanda Murray, who served for decades in the department and rose through the ranks during a time when female leadership in policing was still developing in Belize, called into The Morning Show on Love Television to share her perspective on discipline within the force.  Bol was recently suspended from active duty pending an inquiry after allegedly breaching standing orders relating to appearance and grooming regulations. According to an official letter issued by the Professional Standards and Accountability Branch on behalf of the Commissioner of Police, the suspension took effect February thirteenth, twenty-twenty-six, while investigations continue into conduct considered prejudicial to the good order and efficient functioning of the department.  Murray, who became the first woman promoted to Inspector after promotion barriers were opened to female officers. drew on her experience in the service and emphasized that policing operates on strict systems and regulations that officers voluntarily agree to follow upon enlistment.

Caller: “Over the years after I have left, I have watched deterioration even in the police department when it comes to code of dress. And I mean, I feel so bad every time I can see a police officer’s men and women walking on the street with their headdress in their hands and not on their head. You know, the purpose of your headdress is that you are able also to salute persons who should be saluted when you meet them like any of our ministers of government our prime minister, our governor general, you know, the judges, you know, people like these are, police should salute. And, you know, I feel so bad every time I watch them on the street. There are times when I try to correct them in a very nice way, because I don’t want to embarrass anybody, but it continues. And I don’t know what happened to the supervisors or the senior people. When I joined, we had to have our hair well brushed up or combed and it cannot be over or shirt collar. And one of the reasons is that you’re walking down the street, somebody could pull your hair and you could be messed up when you’re arresting somebody. But the court gave the permission that the women can use their braids, but I think it’s in a form that they would have to have it pinned up they cannot have it just hanging in their back something to that extent, I can’t remember the full. You joined with certain protocols in place. That your hair has to be cut in a certain way, that it has to be properly groomed. You cannot be wearing your shirt at the back over your shoulder. It was not specific to the braids, but it is specific to the way how you groom your hair. And it’s not that he’s putting that on and he will be having his cap on all the time that nobody can see what, how his hair is. I mean, when you’re working in the office or working, you know, without your head dress on everybody will be seeing your hair that this is not the way a police officer should have their hair. I can’t even recall if even abroad I have seen policemen with anything like dreadlocks in their hair. Everybody even in the military and all that are properly groomed people even in the BDF. And so I don’t know. I think he should make up his mind of signing another job.”

Murray explained that discipline, uniformity and adherence to standing orders are fundamental pillars of law enforcement and help maintain public confidence in the institution.  She added that while personal expression is important, the police department functions as a structured organization where individual choices must sometimes be balanced against professional standards required of the uniformed service.  The matter involving Corporal Bol remains under review by the department as discussions continue in the wider public about policy, culture and modernization within the police force.