Two years since taking power, the administration of President Juan Carlos Varela has yet to define its security policy. Now it looks as if Panamanians will have to wait one more year for that privilege.
This is the simple conclusion that could be drawn from the recent speech by security minister Alexis Bethancourt. The latter admitted that the results of a victimization survey are needed before resources can be properly allocated.
The tabulation of the survey results will take place over the following three months: until then, the minister admitted that policy will have to be formulated on the very limited data currently available.
The reason behind that is that the current dataset provided by the Integrated System of Criminal Statistics (Siec) does not reflect sufficiently accurately the situation on the ground. As such, it is not useful in identifying week security spots.
The inaccuracy of available Siec data is a direct result of the failure to report crimes on the part of victims, who are often fearful of the consequences. This is especially the case as far as robberies, burglaries and rapes are concerned.
In a recent interview on the Cara a Cara RPC TV programme, Mr. Bethancourt explained that the poll will be carried out throughout the month of July, and that results will be ready by November.
Consequently, the government's security plan should in theory be ready for implementation only in 2017.
During administration of former security minister Rodolfo Aguilera, the Panamanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry published the results of a victimization survey and security perception index, which showed that 16% of the population had been victim of some form of crime in 2013.
The report highlighted not only the weakest spots in the security arena, but also the reasons why the population chose to keep silent having been victim of a crime.
In spite of the fact that the crime wave has been getting worse year by year since, it is worrying that no immediate measures were taken to address the issues the report raised.
Between 2010 and 2013, the percentage of the population that admitted to being a victim of crime increased by six percentage points. The same poll carried out by the chamber of commerce in 2010 had reflected a victimization rate of 10%.
Regrettably, former security minister Rodolfo Aguilera preferred not to take on board these results when formulating his public security strategy, arguing that the statistics were outdated.
According to former security minister Jose Raul Mulino, the current situation the country is facing is sufficient proof that this government's security policy has failed.
Mr. Mulino condemned the government's failure to carry on with the implementation of the previous administration’s security policy, which had yielded positive results in controlling crime rates and gangs proliferation.
Safe Neighborhoods
Mr. Mulino’s view of the government's "Safe Neighborhood" security policy is damning. According to the former minister, the current administration has focused on paying food vouchers to gang members, while overlooking the intelligence work needed for the identification of key criminals.
He denounced the existence of a report that the government has hurriedly buried, showing that vouchers meant for gang members were used with political ends. According to report, government officials responsible for wrongdoing had been simply moved to different posts, eschewing punishment.
Since taking office, the government has invested $16m in this ill-fated voucher programme.
According to lawyer and penal expert Valentin Jaen, the “Safe Neighborhoods” programme has failed because the government has failed to recognize that, as a matter of state, the programme required the participation of all key actors across society in order to work.
Two years on since its initial implementation, and far from being effective, the government security policy has resulted in an increase in the number, as well as the violent nature, of gang crimes.
