Conmmunitarian Police, Citizen Participation And Necessary Transformations: Experiences of the Police Reformation in France And The United States from the Dominican Optical.

Seminary the International "Governability, Citizen Security and Civil Control Democratic:
Between the Crime and the Punishment"

FLACSO / WOODROW WILSON CENTER

DR. MANUEL DE JS. PEREZ SANCHEZ

Introduction

It would be possible to be discussed the utility of the police approach in a project of participation of the citizenship in the subjects of democratic civil control, governabilityand security.

Nevertheless, the final result of the mixture of such points of view will be always beneficial for the collectivity: the police comprise of the social conglomerate. Their experiences and experiences can contribute in the search of solutions to the created problems.

Its inclusion will determine aspects fundamental to consider in the planning of strategies to reduce the fear to the crime, the crisis of institutional legitimacy and to fortify the capacity of opportune answer before the delinquency, the violence, the lack of solidarity.

It will allow a global vision to prop up the bases of the social economic development, as well as to monitorial the validity of the objectives in the proposed changes and transformations.

In addition, it implies an attitude of participation of sectors that acted of way disperses or were not present in the design, discussion and execution of policies of public security:the "process of joint and participation of the Civil Society has a continental dimension"

We tried to come near, through a panoramic vision of the communitarian police, to the processes of police reform that two different police organizations by their structure experience: a decentralized policeman and; another one at national and centralized level.

We will see the cases of the Department of Police of Miami, the United States of America and the National Police of France. Also we will make a brief route by the Dominican proposal.

FRANCE

Structure of the National Police. -

In France, the Police is integrated by four bodies:

a-The superior corps, of conception and direction:

Chief inspector
General Contralor
Commissioner Divisional
Commissioner Principal
Commissioner of Police

b-Commando and framing:

Commander
Captain
Lieutenant
Second lieutenant

c-Application corps:

Greater Brigadier
Brigadier in Head
Brigadier
Subrigadier
Titular guardian
Sub-guardian

Educative aspects. -

The course of guardians of La Paz lasts a year, annually train of five six thousand agents, a 20% women and a 80% men, of which 60% are loquacious, 17% have superior studies and a 23%have not finished the baccalaureate. In relation to the ages, 70% have of 21 to 25 years, 26% has from 26 to 30, the 2,5% are 31 years old and 11% have less than 20.

Of the eleven or twelve months in the school, the guardians of La Paz spend three months in three different police stations, a month in each one. First it is a theoretical course of three months, a month to the street, return so on and. He emphasizes himself in the study of cases.

The education is by objectives. Three are persecuted: citizen, police of proximity and technique of police. In the turn in the morning they give classes and in afternoon physical education or vice versa, which allows to have two simultaneous groups.

As far as the contents of the modules: human sciences, functions of police, culture, right, transit and administrative police. The wages of the police benefit from a particular statute: they gain 17% over the wage of the officials government.

To the instructor one requires at least five years to him of experience in the street, to be put under psychological test, of knowledge, to interviews, proroguable contract by 5 years 2 years more and again to the street since irrazonable is considered that is teaching being divorced of the reality. It must have pedagogical formation of three years.

As far as the philosophy of the proximity police, internal it, potential the initiative and the responsibility, as far as external the police are known and recognized by the citizenship, it has a base of action of values that is the most important part, and is not solely repression but prevention. No longer it exists a body for the dissuasion, another one for the prevention and another one for the repression, but that only a police makes the three functions. It is included/understood that the problem of the police not only is of security, nor to arrive when the crime has been committed, but to arrive before.

Central command and control of Public Security.

There are 135 thousand police in a civil institution that depends on the Department of the Interior. 10 Directions exist, of which the public security is most important, since it includes/understands public order, proximity and fights against the small and medium delinquency. The others are those that are in charge of the terrorism, migration, general inspectorate, protection to VIP, CRS, that is a mobile force of support when there is manifestations, SCTIP and Direction of Formation.

Monsieur Niell, Commissioner Divisional, Ordered of Mission as far as the reflection and writing of Doctrine extends the concept and the aims of the Central command and control of Public Security:

"the public security is one of the Main directorates of the Police. It is solicited to establish the Police of Proximity. We give service in the urban zone to population of 30 million, that is half of the total population. We reported 65% of the crimes, the Gendarmerie 25%, the Police of Paris 8% and the Judicial Police 2%. 70% of the infractions that we worked are of the public thoroughfare, like robbery, robbery with violence, robbery of cars... We made 50% of the haltings. 18 or 19% of crimes are committed by young people. A 25% of these have less than 14 years. In the 2000 there were 191 thousand robberies of vehicles, lowered a 6% with respect to the previous year. Another problem is the urban violence: they protest and they look for any opportunity to cause problems. Without including Judicial Police, Political Police, Border patrol, there are 79 thousands in Public Security, of which 67.371 is civil employees, 729 commissioners, 6.383 officials, 55 thousand guardians, 5 thousand administrative ones, 571 aids and 11 thousand associates"

Of 2,4 million stated crimes, 55% are of the public thoroughfare. 22% are solved, that is to say, about 544,526. In the 2000 there were 1009 homicides, between which 7 by adjustments of accounts, 26 to rob, 348 by other reasons and 620 by attempts in which soon the wounded passed away. These numbers do not include Paris, that has five or six million inhabitants and has its police aside. Of these cases 50% are solved.

An aspect that called the attention powerfully to us was the reading of an imperial decree of 1854 establishing directors for the police who agree with the fundamental lines of the proximity police.

One commented that that text establishes the frequency, cover, boundary of responsibility and empathy of the police towards the citizens.

In France it is being spoken of Police of Proximity from 1981. In 1997 there was an approach and in 1998 that model settled down officially.

The proximity police has its seat in sectors with 20 or 40 thousand inhabitants and in the districts, that have 10 or 20 thousand people.

The proximity police is not a revolution or rupture, but a evolution, since in 1974 they had experience of ilotage, that is "to put a police to patrol to listen to the population and they only made relations you publish; nevertheless, in some places, depending on the commander, it worked well ".

They have 467 circumscriptions. They initiated project pilot in five. First stage includes 63, second includes 180. It is a priority of the Government.

Previous to the attempts of reform sounding became that threw 38% loved visible police but and 18% a police that listened to more.

"the police at the same time must be, on the one hand lasts and hard, that is to say, respected; on the other hand, it must be right and to listen ".

The proximity police is present, analyzes, comes up, communicates, dissuades and represses. It has three objectives, 5 ways of action and seven tools of work (357)

Learned lessons. -

Commissioner Divisional PATRICK BALLADOR thinks that one of the errors more frequent than entails the establishment of a proximity police is to forget the part the repression, that is the essential marrow of all police body. Also he warned of committees of citizens who interpreted bad their inclusion in work parties to help in police workings that soon became paramilitary swarms

Commissioner Principal ROBERT CALANDRI, explained that the Government, like part of a framedpolice action in the program of the proximity police, not only establishes center of welcome of young people where the police agents help to make the task to the children who live in sensible districts as far as the public order, but that also remodeled or destroys and replaces the buildings where great populations concentrate themselves that live in misery state, mainly lived by originating immigrants of some African countries.

In addition, next to the police organizations, comprising of the same building, several governmental offices dedicated work to give service to the community in coordination with the police of the district.

DEPARTMENT OF POLICE OF MIAMI
Mission, vision, objectives, strategy. -

"the mission of the police of Miami is to make next to the community a safe place where people can live, work surely and visit and without fear".

The strategy is the creative application of police methods and formulas for the best protection of the diverse communities, valuing its unit and cultural difference in the treatment to the citizens, residents and visitors.

The vision is tie to the professionalism, ethics, honesty and collaboration with the community in a philosophy of communitarian policy, in order to elevate the quality of life of all the inhabitants.

"We will be partners and companions of the industralists, residential corporations and communities to identify and to recommend solutions to the problems".

Communitarian police. -

The Head of the Police, RAUL MARTINEZ, emphasizes the importance of the program of communitarian police for the success of the police work and the increase of the police visibility. "the head of the police distance of the district not to be itself head", affirms.

Of him their main executives say whom "the program created and has been pushing with the foot in the accelerator".

The Captain Arming Martinez explained that the police organization before was reactive and now is pro-active, who tries to arrive at the scene before the crime.

The lieutenant is the one in charge of a district. She knows the communitarian leaders and she handles the statistics. She has two officials who help him in their work.

"the smaller crimes reduce to him to the quality of life. The person to that we served must be satisfied ", assures.

In this type of police the work of the agent is moderate. The report allows to know as it is working. There is a monthly report and one newspaper. The objective is to reduce the crime. If it is not reduced it analyzes the situation to determine what it is happening.

The leaders are not only the formal ones, but also the unreliable people: popular housewife; priests; distant personages; people who are respected and wanted by the people of her street.

Lieutenant MARIO GARCIA explains to us that the objective era to change the philosophy of the form how she operated the police, which was obtained implementing the communitarian police.

Military model versus citizen model. -

In the military model, whose essential characteristic is the reactivity, the pyramid is:

Chief
Supervisors
Officials
Citizens

In the communitarian Police we have the inverted pyramid:

Citizenship
Officials
Supervisors
Chief

Their characteristics are: informative, collaborationist and it proactivates. It is based on the analysis of the atmosphere, identification of the problem and the search of solution next to the citizen.

Communitarian police and communitarian relations. -

It is not the same communitarian police on the one hand and communitarian relations on the other hand: they are different. The communitarian police is a philosophy.

In the communitarian police the services are decentralized. The objective is to establish a psychological entailment between the citizen and the official, generating a macro visibility of the police in the community, so that they accept it to him and his performances.

In the model of communitarian police the official is assigned to the zone permanently and must solve everything as if outside the head of the police.

Two types different from lieutenants were created: the one of turn, which it investigates shootings and it determines the use of the force the one of communitarian police, that looks for resources to help the community, and creates programs to reduce the crime and to elevate quality of life.

The crime does not commit a single person, but who is helped by a group to create the conditions to commit it. The criminal needs to destroy districts. We establish a space between the delinquent and the victim and we placed the police there.

To place to the police between the delinquent and the victim is the objective of the communitarian police. It is to arrive first that the delinquent to the scene, before the crime takes place already we are helping the victim.

When the destruction of the district begins, those that can change, but the old man that cannot be gone to another side, leaves the street and the delinquent seizes of her.

The delinquent, like all human being, needs space to operate.

The objective is to choke to the delinquent, invading to him its space: the communitarian police is an aggressive system to prevent and to fight the crime!

The classic example is the one of the double carrilera, in one the crime is prepared aggressively and in the other it is acted aggressively against the crime. Both carrileras have the same objective: to elevate the quality of life of the citizen.

Prevention of the crime. -

A program of prevention of the crime is for example to organize youthful leagues of baseball, ball foot, basquet, with a police in uniform helping them, with a uniform similar to the one of the police for the players. The benefits are multiple, is increased the police visibility, barriers settle down so that the delinquent does not approach those young people and these are learning the form in which it operates the police.

The communitarian police is based on information: Where happen the crimes? How to evaluate the police? Why raises or low the criminality?

The sources of the information we found it in the unit of analysis of the crime; the citizens; the industralists, in order to reduce to the crime and the fear to the crime: to increase the confidence between the citizen and the police. To demonstrate that it is possible to be trusted the police. To create bonds between business, school, church and police.

Six years, almost seven, to restore the communitarian police. One soon identified to the sergeant of district, the lieutenant, who is the key element, because she directs the equipment. If this one accepts it, also it accepts the sergeant. In the process a confrontation with traditional elements exists.

The Head of the Police yields to be able, does not clear responsibility to him, empowers the lieutenant so that she can solve the problems of the community, gives him to be able so that the police makes the decisions. National, provincial and local politicians and leaders, must be informed, so that they offer endorsement in the implementation of the process.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Proposal of reform. -
The aims and objectives of the proposal of police reform were exposed by the President of the Commission of the Police Reformation and Secretary of State of Interior and Police: "the transformation of effective the reactive and repressive model in a communitarian and preventive model sets out, characterized by the use of methods of performance substantially different from the traditional police, that involve to the community in the identification and solution of their problems"

It implies a new concept in communitarian aspects and of internal subjects, the adoption ofmeasures that allow a better advantage of the computer science technology and communications, the new engineering of the organization, different paradigms and values, the reformulation of their educative system, to make the police work attractive and to guarantee the social security of the police and its relatives.

Citizen Participation. -

In this context, the citizenship will have its protagonist participation in the programs and concrete actions elaborated by the police to improve the security and communitarian norms of coexistence; simultaneously that improves the confidence and institutional credibility and a suitable and ampler phantom in the fight by the reduction of the delinquency is reached.

Objectives. -

It is a conception of the organization and the intervention of the National Police that must be increased progressively and like priority, in the services of the Public Security, in order:

To impel solidarity, participation and citizen cooperation in the prevention and control of the violations to the laws.

To change the present model of reactive police proactive.

To assure the respect and the protection to the dignity and human integrity.

To increase and to extend the police service.

To generate macro police visibility.

The Communitarian Police provided:

1. - A police to the image of population
2. - A new way of exercise, aptitudes and values
3. - A police that communicates with citizens
4. - A new task for the set of the hierarchic levels.
5. - Work in cooperation with all the other areas on watch public.
6. - It implies a fort education effort.
7. - It will operate like a direction of the National Police.

Functionally it includes two areas: the norm and the operative one.

1. - The normative area is made up of a department of communitarian security, whose mission is to give to sustenance and professional support to the operative area for which it elaborates, it trains and monitorial, on the basis of pertinent the social studies, the programs of communitarian integration and action.

These programs and actions include/understand contacts and coordinations with clubs, churches, ONG and industralists claypits, as well as the recreation and the sport; the youthful police (explorers); the citizen patrol; promotional claypit; salubrity and medial ambient; pandillerismo and youthful delinquency; child abuse; familiar violence, negotiated of crisis and the indigencia

2. - The operative area of the five POLICOM is made up of department:

Communitarian Police Patrol
The Scholastic Police
The Tourist Police
Patrols Avenue
911

The function of these departments is to execute the inherent programs and actions to its reason of being like Communitarian Police.

Conclusions

The expositions are false that administratively disqualify the effectiveness of the communitarian police in centralized systems of police at national level.

The operative decentralization of the police to potential the criminal prevention is necessary and to increase its efficiency.

Only when practicing their authority with competition, quality, impartiality and integrity will fortify the police systems the sometimes questioned institutional legitimacy.

In the reform processes the participation not only of the beneficiaries of the police services, but also of the operators of the system without excluding police, judges, public prosecutors, penitentiary authorities, governmental leaders, informal leaders is essential, in short, of all the interested citizenship.

The reduction of the crime, the diminution of the insecurity feeling is objectives that can only be reached with the application of measures that take into account the systemic character from the problematic one and their fundamentally economic origin.

The crisis of the police institutions of Latin America, their lack of professionalism, precarious social security, emphasis of the effectiveness in decline of the individual rights and the existence of measured underground powers that resist the force legality pressing, will find an answer adapted in the democratization of their structures, adoption of the citizen model instead of the military man and other measures of as the communitarian police constitutes one of its central axes.

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