Bogota: a municipal police | The New Century

*At least the debate has been opened

* The worst thing would be to stay the same

Mayor Claudia López’s proposal to advance some kind of autonomous police force for Bogotá (and cities with more than two million inhabitants) would have been very useful if it had been presented early in her term. However, at this point, when legislators are pending the regional elections more than any other circumstance, the idea will surely suffer from the dream of mortals. However, it is still interesting to have put it on the table, at least as the initiation of a debate that is clearly necessary. Because Bogotá cannot continue to be the country’s Cinderella in terms of security. And even worse, letting the metropolis be depleted by the national government after having made such great efforts to finance its enormous requirements in such a sensitive matter, such as this one that embodies the development of the principle of authority, and that should be treated with the same urgency that denotes the exasperation of the citizens.

Of course, what happened to the 1,500 policemen who, before joining the city contingents, were dedicated, in their vast majority, to tasks other than the needs of the capital, dishonoring their word, violating commitments and giving to the public, is truly nonsense. put an end to the confidence that Bogota citizens should have in the national authorities and their relationship with the mayor’s office. It is common, unfortunately, for this to happen with a city that is highly generous with the funding of the national budget, employment for all Colombians, as well as in so many other services and substantial variables in the future of the country, where it stands out by far. In any case, this habit of repetitive mistreatment would seem to worsen. And that is why it is not bad to find mechanisms, adjusted to the law and to the possibilities offered by the Organic Statute, that allow the city to get out of that perfidious funnel in which the wide for others and the short for the District always prevail.

As is known, for many decades the ill-fated thesis has made a name for itself in the country, that a centralist spirit predominates to favor Bogotá. False of all falsehood. It is enough to review the budgetary indicators to verify that the capital collaborates in a superlative way with the national demands while the financial return is very little to comply with its constraints. Fortunately, the District has been distinguished, since the issuance of the Organic Statute and in development of the Constitution of 1991, by a well-managed public finances and in general in tune with good governance, even despite certain mayoralties of ungrateful remembrance. And for this reason, the possibility of organizing a Police for Bogotá, with adequate resources, an effective strategy and systematic coordination with the national entity, cannot be ruled out at all.

Although Bogotá is not one of the most violent cities in the country, nor is it in the list of the 50 most dangerous in Latin America, the deterioration of citizen security in its different aspects is evident. On the one hand, because the minimum number of police officers (in UN terms) is not met for one of the largest cities on the continent and, on the other, because the strategy is supported by old premises, such as those put into It was running at the time of the CAIs (an operational model that could have been used 40 years ago and today is overwhelmed) and whose complement of the quadrants has not been entirely efficient.

On the other hand, the trend in the world is towards police municipalization. In Colombia, however, the old task of militarizing the Police and having a police mentality in functions of the Armed Forces, with a national character, is maintained. In Bogotá, among other cities, this issue was partly resolved with the figure of “military assistance” to the Police, when this is necessary (as in the vandal strikes of a couple of years ago), an institutional premise that was the one that In fact, it allowed public order to be restored, as well as the Esmad was reformed, keeping it as a special riot control force. Meanwhile, the Police have to be on the streets, patrolling, responding to citizen requests and acting as a deterrent against crime.

It is clear, in a city like Bogotá, that the National Police must act against high-impact crimes. But the idea of ​​creating a specific body for crimes of lesser impact and those related to citizen coexistence is not badly conceived, as well as ending that office-based Police dedicated to administrative work, in an abysmal percentage, instead of the protection of citizens . The debate is open, there are voices for and against. In any case, it is clear that the worst thing for security would be to stay the same.