The government of Chilean President Gabriel Boric announced Thursday that it will strengthen police functions and reallocate resources to fight crime, amid a security crisis that worsened the last hours after the death of a police officer during the early morning, the third in less than a month.
Considered one of the safest countries in the region, Chile has registered an increase in certain crimes in recent years, such as homicides or violent robberies, as well as the appearance of crimes that were previously rare in the country, such as extortion and hit men, which has installed public safety as the greatest concern of citizens.
“All of Chile is hit and as a government we become part of those feelings,” Interior Minister Carolina Tohá said at a press conference early in the morning. But as a government “we don’t have the possibility of remaining in that indignation and in that shock, we have to act.”
The government will advance the start of an intervention plan in some thirty municipalities with high levels of violent crime and which concentrate a third of the population. The pilot will start this month in the capital’s Santiago municipality and also includes an investigation into arms trafficking and criminal prosecution.
Tohá said that they will also continue reinforcing police equipment as has been done in recent months, for example with a greater number of armored vehicles or bulletproof vests.
During the day there will also be meetings with the internal security services and, in the afternoon, Boric will lead a meeting with high-ranking authorities from the Legislative and Judicial Powers, the Prosecutor’s Office and the Comptroller’s Office to deepen coordination and strengthen actions, which also include following the routes of money
The death of police officer Daniel Palma, 33, shot in the head during an inspection operation in downtown Santiago, adds to the recent murder of police officer Rita Olivares, who was shot during proceedings against an assault in the town from Quilpué, close to the capital.
Shortly before, another policeman had lost his life in the southern city of Concepción, who was run over after inspecting a local alcohol sale.
The rise in crime, police deaths, and the perception of insecurity among the population have led the government to more strongly embrace a public security agenda, which has included sending new laws to Congress to support police action, criminalizing new crimes or prosecute organized crime.
Boric himself, who during his years as a deputy was critical of police action, has had to face internal tensions in his government coalition on this issue but he himself has hardened his discourse against crime or the effects of irregular immigration, which hits the extreme north of the country above all.
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