“In Chile, militarizing the fight against organized crime should be the last option”

Pepper In recent years, there has been an increase in violent crimes, along with the arrival in the country of international organized crime gangs, such as Tren de Aragua, of Venezuelan origin; Los Trinitarios, formed in New York, or Los Pulpos, from Peru. Between 2014 and 2023, homicides increased by 60% in the country, rapes by 46% and robberies with violence or intimidation by 11%, according to figures from the Center for Crime Studies and Analysis, dependent on the Undersecretariat for Crime Prevention.

At the judicial level, the country awaits the start of the mega trial against 38 members of the criminal gang Galiciansubsidiary of Aragua Train, for a series of crimes that include homicide, kidnapping, human trafficking, sexual exploitation, extortion, weapons and drug trafficking, among others. This is the most complex criminal process in recent years in the country, due to the high level of dangerousness of those involved, 34 Venezuelans and four Chileans.

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The trade spoke about crime in Chile with Pia Greeneresearcher at the Center for Studies in Public Security and Organized Crime at the University of San Sebastián.

– What is the authorities’ strategy to confront transnational crime, these gangs that arrive with new criminal modalities and commit high-impact crimes?

In Pepper The criminal phenomenon has undergone a very important change in recent years. After the pandemic it was much more pronounced. Chile went from being a country of crimes against property to becoming a nation where violent crimes against people mainly evolve.. Although property crimes are still over 80% today, they have decreased. The type of crime also increased. There are crimes that we didn’t know about before Pepper. There is a new way in which crimes occur. For example, The homicide previously occurred between people who knew each other in the private world and it was usually done with a knife. Today these crimes are occurring on public roads, with random strangers, which indicates that it may be closer to a hired killer or a hired homicide, and they occur with firearms. Therefore, the way in which these violent crimes are being committed means that we are facing a phenomenon Criminal much more complex, which costs more to resolve and which, in addition, inspires a lot of fear in people. Today we have 90% fear in the population, this means that 9 out of 10 Chileans are very scared, and that is why they have changed their daily life dynamics, their habits.

Pía Greene, researcher at the Center for Studies in Public Security and Organized Crime at the University of San Sebastián.

So, things have been done to address this phenomenon. However, they did not have enough urgency or concentration to be able to address the issue adequately. He criminal phenomenon It has changed so quickly that authorities and society can never keep up. Therefore, everything we learned in recent years about investigation, control, persecution or prevention today becomes obsolete in the face of this new type of crimes. There have been strategies that have been good. For example, the Public Prosecutor’s Office set up a specialized group to investigate organized crime, called ECOH, which focused on this type to find some special characteristics and be able to investigate it better, which has already had good results. The Supraterritorial Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office has just been approved, which was essential because In Chile we have a Public Ministry for each of the 15 regionsand this is very complex because research is often repeated or information is not shared.

– What is being left out that could be effective in fighting crime?

For example, the violence-free streets plan was implemented, with more police officers on the streets, but what happens with that? Common crime is combated with more police coverage, butOrganized crime is fought intelligentlyand that’s one of the things we lack Pepper. Through intelligence we can understand the criminal X-ray, understand the ways in which they are acting and be able to anticipate events. Intelligence is the only way to combat organized crime. Our intelligence agency does not have the relevance, nor the budget, nor the human resources, nor the capacity necessary to be able to do this. There is also no adequate coordination between the various intelligence agencies, be they the armed forces, the police, the Ministry of the Interior, the national intelligence agency itself, the gendarmerie, etc.

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Another issue, which seems more important to me, is that of prisons. In Chile, we urgently demand a comprehensive prison policy, where not only do we have to build more prisons due to overcrowding, but we also demand that prisoners be separated according to their crimes. The criminogenic contagion that exists in Chilean prisons is very powerful. Then, When a person is accused of minor crimes, they have no choice but to escalate to defend themselves. or being able to belong, as happened in the case of The Trinitarians in New York, which met in a prison and became a very powerful organized crime group that reached as far as Chile, with high firepower and very violent. We have to look for new rehabilitation and reintegration programs that are in accordance with the criminal commitment of each of the inmates. Not all crimes deserve to go to jail, there are people who can serve their sentence in freedom, by this I don’t mean that people have to leave prison, I mean that there are alternative measures and we have to use them. No real prison reforms were carried out. Today, prisons are no longer the university of crime and have become the headquarters of organized crime.

Another important issue is the border. I in no way want to say that immigration has to do with crime, but, however, when you have disorderly and illegal immigration due to the permeability of the border, this causes many people to enter illegally. Although 99% of people may be good, they come looking for new opportunities, people also come in who do not come with good intentions. AND Organized crime, which is essentially transnational, enters the country with new crimes. This has recently been controlled by allowing the military to help at the border, which has reduced illegal immigration, which is very good news.

Chile’s Investigative Police (PDI) patrols an area around Cerro Chuño, on the outskirts of Arica, on June 16, 2022, where the Los Gallegos criminal group is located. (AFP). (PATRICIO BANDA/)

– In criminal matters, how is the State’s action articulated? Is the work of the police, prosecutors and judges ideal to convict those responsible for the crime?

We have a poor approach to organized crime because our internal institutions are not coordinated in the delivery of information and analysis, and I believe this also happens in the rest of Latin American countries. There is a lack of operational coordination, a lack of coordination between the Public Prosecutor’s Office, a lack of capacity to look at the phenomenon in a global way, because organized crime crosses borders and for this we have to be attentive to the way it has worked in other countries. countries and then attack it here, together with other nations. And in this sense, in the work of the police, the Public Ministry and the judges in Pepper We have made progress, but there is a lack of organization within the institutions to combat organized crime and crime in general. It requires articulation that is very difficult to achieve. The United States achieved this after the 9/11 attacks, and many other countries followed suit, we are just behind on this issue.

– What do you think of what is happening in Ecuador, where the military will have police functions to combat crime, could this happen in Chile at some point?

O military On the street it is a measure that can always be evaluated; However, I think it is bad to militarize crime for several reasons. Firstly, because in Latin America we have experiences such as Mexico, where it didn’t work, and finally the military ends up entering a circle of corruption or violence that is very dangerous. Then, When you militarize crime, violence increases. In the Chilean case, the military is trained for war, and this implies having an enemy that must be eliminated or killed. On the other hand, security and law enforcement have to reduce crime, they are two very different perspectives; A soldier who has weapons of war, who has enemy training, who has a war uniform, who has thoughts of war, when acting against a criminal, will most likely do so as if he were at war, regardless of whether there are rules or not. limited use of force. Let’s imagine a soldier controlling people’s identities and suddenly someone doesn’t want to control their identity, or even worse, a soldier sees a crime in flagrante delicto, most likely he will act like a soldier, and in that sense it is very dangerous for the force increases and an armed person takes his weapon and may cause greater violence. The second thing that also seems super relevant to me is that this has to be a measure of last option., what are you going to do after this? What if it doesn’t work for you? the cycle of violence continues. The last thing, which is also very important in this issue, is what will happen to fear, if they withdraw the military, it is very likely that fear among citizens will increase. Therefore, Militarizing crime is not a good option for me., can always be evaluated, but in specific cases such as border care. If you are going to put soldiers on the streets you have to be very well defined, know what they are going to do, how they are going to act, how they will be judged if they act badly, what rules for the use of force they will use, and everything that exists today. Pepper the preparation is not there.

Source: Elcomercio