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Abstract:
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Since the 1990s, every proclamation for police reform in Latin America leads to
the launching of a community policing programme designed to improve policecommunity
relations. Each of these programmes has a different name and format;
some have lasted a long time, while others have been ephemeral. Community
police as a proposal, strategy or philosophy for police activities is without a doubt
quite popular. At various moments, police forces that are otherwise divergent in
nature have all launched programmes to improve their community relations.
Those agencies include The Guatemalan National Civil Police, the Panamanian
National Police, the Nicaraguan Police, preventative police in various Mexican
Municipalities, the Carabineros in Chile, various Argentine provincial police, the
Colombian National Police, the Dominican Republic National Police, the Police
of Buenos Aires Province, among many others. The fact that both politicians and
police leadership constantly invoke the need to improve relations between police
and the communities they serve is undoubtedly a positive step. There is
recognition that the police owe something to citizens and that they should
consider public demands and expectations. But beyond these aspects, we have to
ask if the various practices carried out under the auspices of community policing
express a similar understanding of the community policing model, the likelihood
that this model might become established within the region and the necessary
institutional adaptations to make that feasible. |