public safety

Security reform to face public debate

President Torrijos’s public safety reform package will be publicly debated in the next few days.

One controversial reform would change the command structure for the national police.

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cooperation: Ministro de Gobierno y Justicia Daniel Delgado Diamante confers with President Martín Torrijos.1063777

The Consejo de Gabinete has completed its review of President Torrijos’s public safety reform package, which will be subjected to public debate within the next three days, said Ministro de Gobierno y Justicia Daniel Delgado Diamante.

Key among the proposed reforms is a bill to create a Servicio Nacional de Fronteras, whose headquarters would be located in the Darién near the Colombian border, and a Servicio Aeronaval, combining the Servicio Marítimo Nacional and the Servicio Aéreo Nacional.

One of the more controversial reforms would allow the President to appoint a uniformed officer as director of the Policía Nacional (PN), a post previously restricted to civilians.

Critics of the proposal warn that the government initiative seeks to reestablish a military structure disguised as a police force. A constitutional amendment officially disbanded Panama’s military in 1994.

Following public review, the reforms will be re-submitted to the Gabinete for approval.

Ministro Diamante explained that the Ministerio de la Presidencia controls the process of consulting on the reforms with the Consejo de Seguridad y Defensa Nacional and the Servicio de Protección Institucional (SPI).

Otilia de Koster of the Centro de Investigación de los Derechos Humanos y Socorro Jurídico de Panamá yesterday expressed concern that the government had exaggerated the country’s official crime rates as a ploy to boost public support for the reforms.