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San Jose (AFP) – The president of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves, said this Friday that the reduction in days off from the Police “will not come into effect”, after the protests on Thursday by uniformed personnel throughout the country.
The cut in days off was proposed by the government as part of a special operation against organized crime that seeks to respond to the increase in violence in the Central American country.
The plan foresees incorporating 700 new agents into the police force and changing the schedules of the current uniformed officers, who enjoyed 6 days off for 6 days of work and now faced the possibility of working 6 and resting 4.
However, after the protests of off-duty agents who blocked routes and access to facilities, and after talking with agents at a police station this Friday, President Chaves assured that the reduction in rest days “is in the freezer.”
“For now, everyone, calm down, this is not going to come into operation (…) we are not going to force you,” said the president surrounded by dozens of police officers who explained their discomfort with the change.
The Minister of Public Security, Jorge Torres, on Friday morning met with representatives of the police who were “seeking a solution” to the discontent and after the first day said:
“I call on all these men and women of the police forces to please decline the movement to continue in the negotiations that correspond to us.”
The protests on Thursday lasted throughout the day, there were temporary cuts on the main highways of the country and on arteries of the capital, and access to the San José airport was interrupted.
The Costa Rican government seeks to combat organized crime and the escalation of homicides in various parts of the country, which made 2022 the year with the most violent deaths since there are records.
According to the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ), in 2022 there were 856 homicides in Costa Rica, a record number. The rate of violent deaths per 100,000 inhabitants rose to 12.6, against 11.4 in 2021.
Of those deaths, 63% were settling scores between criminals. So far in 2023, 261 homicides have been registered, according to the OIJ.
