There is a real dysfunctional attitude here. Not only are many of the police corrupt but people treat all of them like they are and are given little respect.
The real problem is the officials are paid less than a normal wage for a housecleaner.
A good example for perspective would be comparing a 20 year veteran of the NY police force compared with a 20 year veteran of the police and the mayor of NYC and the mayor of Santiago.
From what I've been told(feel free to update my numbers) a 20 year veteran sergeant in NY can make around US90,000 a year while a 20 year sergeant here in the DR makes between US3,000 and 4,000 a year (based on what I've been told from family, etc)
The mayor of NYC makes US195,000 while the mayor of Santiago makes a supposed US50,000.
It is clear a sergeant in NY makes almost half of the slary of the mayor while a pobre diablo sergeant here in the DR of the same time and rank doesn't even make 10% of the supposed salary of the mayor.
Of course the mayor has other incentives, like importing vehicles in free of charge(aka exoneracion) but has access to various funds. A good example is the current mayor of Santiago spent almost US300,000 on dinner parties, lunches and other social activities in only 4 months. Imagine how much he could spend on this type of vagabundaria in his full term? I think we can be sure there was some serious kickback.
I would therefore think it would be safe to say a mayor here makes more than 20 times the salary of a local police sergeant with 20 years experience if not much, much more.
I believe there is no reason to wonder why there is an overwhelming amount of police corruption in this country.
The problem goes beyond that Chip... You could pay cops a million per day and still easy money is going to continue to be a major allure to some within the whole group. In the case of the DR, just like elsewhere corruption is ingrained into the social-political fabric of life, the problem lies with a weak system that punishes little and where checks are a mirage...
I support the idea of pushing into service new blood and sending those with questionable doings packing. This creates a natural flow where the current is hard to push against, not matter how much money is used to bribe and buy the Law.
You must attack and dry up the source at the root, which is the financial incentive behind the powers.
Target the finances and you dry up the roots and will be able to deal with the falling yellowish leafs, eventually.
I think a good approach is to follow the example of how banks and financial institutions keep their employees from crime: Monitoring...
To label an entire Police force as corrupt is wrong 100% in any case. What we must deal with is to weed out those that are causing the worst infections to go about and then deal with aftermath of the infected little by little.
When a war goes off for years is well funded and will need to accomplish certain goals in order to continue to have that financial support. When a war is not funded by financial means, it's called a revolution. They are short and intense, but create the most lasting effects any armed conflict can bring about in civilization.
Follow the money and you'll find the root of all evil, save for the ones behind the Twinkies...
