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Mayor aims to arm the people against crime
As if there weren’t enough guns out there in the capital, Metropolitan Mayor Juan Barreto plans to dole out pistols to local neighborhood security groups.
The guns were originally used by the Metropolitan Police (PM), who are now being rearmed with more powerful Glock pistols made in Austria.
Barreto, a key figure in the ruling Fifth Republic Movement (MVR), argues that it would be better to make use of the old guns rather than decommission them. His critics say he’s giving up and encouraging vigilantism, and warn that anything up to 2,000 guns could end up in the wrong hands.
Meanwhile, officials say the municipal authorities are keen to clean up the PM and rid the force of corrupt and violent officers. But while some officers with dubious records are said to have been weeded out, very few have been brought to trial. Instead, it’s said the normal practice is to pension them off quietly or transfer them to duties were they can’t do as much damage.
Mayor Freddy Bernal of the crime-riddled Libertador municipality in west Caracas faces similar problems with his local force, colloquially known as Policaracas.
His preoccupation is police officers under the influence of drugs. All officers are to be subjected to tests to establish whether or not they’ve got a habit. Bernal said his aim was “a purification destined to seek a police made decent and in which the citizenry can have confidence.”
Bernal said officers who tested positive would be rehabilitated, although he dropped a broad hint that some might get the boot. Estimates were that 200 officers could be removed from Policaracas for wrongdoing, he said.
By Jeremy Morgan
Daily Journal Staff
As if there weren’t enough guns out there in the capital, Metropolitan Mayor Juan Barreto plans to dole out pistols to local neighborhood security groups.
The guns were originally used by the Metropolitan Police (PM), who are now being rearmed with more powerful Glock pistols made in Austria.
Barreto, a key figure in the ruling Fifth Republic Movement (MVR), argues that it would be better to make use of the old guns rather than decommission them. His critics say he’s giving up and encouraging vigilantism, and warn that anything up to 2,000 guns could end up in the wrong hands.
Meanwhile, officials say the municipal authorities are keen to clean up the PM and rid the force of corrupt and violent officers. But while some officers with dubious records are said to have been weeded out, very few have been brought to trial. Instead, it’s said the normal practice is to pension them off quietly or transfer them to duties were they can’t do as much damage.
Mayor Freddy Bernal of the crime-riddled Libertador municipality in west Caracas faces similar problems with his local force, colloquially known as Policaracas.
His preoccupation is police officers under the influence of drugs. All officers are to be subjected to tests to establish whether or not they’ve got a habit. Bernal said his aim was “a purification destined to seek a police made decent and in which the citizenry can have confidence.”
Bernal said officers who tested positive would be rehabilitated, although he dropped a broad hint that some might get the boot. Estimates were that 200 officers could be removed from Policaracas for wrongdoing, he said.
By Jeremy Morgan
Daily Journal Staff
We need a few American mayors like this. How about starting in NYC.
