Every 20 hours, Panama suffers a murder as a result of the wave of crime and violence that has hit the country. The population feels increasingly less confident in the public safety policy adopted by the current government.
President Juan Carlos Varela had promised to 'develop a comprehensive plan to prevent and combat crime', as part of his “People First” government programme. That also included stronger policing on the streets.
Nevertheless, the president himself has made public that he has received threats by organized crime. On the other hand, he has repeatedly interfered with the course of justice, by criticizing the actions and decisions of magistrates and judges.
Crime statistics for the past two years are truly alarming. The sharp increase in armed assaults has been largely linked to the presence of criminal gangs that operate on the national territory and fight amongst themselves for the control of the drug smuggling market.
The country’s security apparatus has focused on murder cases, which in 2015 reached 12 for every 100,000 Panamanians, according to figures from the National Directorate of Crime statistics (Siec).
This has been to the detriment of keeping control over gangs, which have proliferated over the past few years, growing from 88 in 2005 to over 200 in 2015.
Experts agree that the government has failed to tackle crime in a comprehensive way, and that President Varela's public safety policy has been a failure. They have concluded that 'what is needed is a national policy to tackle the crime wave hitting the country', as opposed to handing out money to gang members who, in their turn, have to choose between food vouchers are $100 bills from gang leaders in exchange for controlling drug smuggling in their own neighborhoods.
Former security minister Rodolfo Aguilera, implemented a policy known as 'Safe Neighborhoods' in attempt to reduce crime levels. “We give gang members an opportunity to work for their community, having undergone treatment for their addictions as well as vocational training, allowing them to change direction in their lives”, the former minister declared prior to resigning his position over two months ago due to the blatant failure of this as well as a others policies.
This failure in public safety policy has had an impact on other types of crimes. Robberies have skyrocketed to 145 in a single month, representing an increase of 11.5%; and last year alone, some
23,397 cases of domestic violence were recorded by the public ministry, representing an increase of 13% over the previous year.
One of the trends that are of greatest concerns for the authorities is the increase in sex-related crimes: in 2015, some 4,812 were recorded. Worryingly, 88% of the total number of sex offenses - or 2,987 cases - involved under-aged victims. In January 2016, for instance, rape was the number one offense, representing 41% of total cases, or 135 for the month.
According to security expert Severino Mejia, the state has the responsibility of taking on violence and guaranteeing public safety. In this respect, Mr. Mejia explained that public safety policy must go beyond the simple fact of helping gang members recover; it is about removing individuals from unhealthy environments and the sort of violence to which they have probably been exposed to since childhood, and which have turned them antisocial.
He advocated a comprehensive prevention policy, starting with the removal of young children, who are most vulnerable to drug smuggling and other crimes carried out by gang members, from the
direct influence of gang leaders.
For his part, lawyer Neftali Jaen qualifies the government’s security policy as “disastrous: never mind the fact that there has been a sharp increase in murders, and kidnappings and thefts; on top of that, those in charge have resigned”, he declared.
According to former government minister Alejandro Perez, the Varela government’s public safety policy is in a really bad state. 'The government's 'Safe Neighborhoods'policy has failed and a new strategy is now called for', he explained, adding that 'unfortunately that will probably involve an increase in control and repressive measures'.
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