Corruption in the Dominican Police force.

silverfunk

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May 10, 2012
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Recently I have been looking into police corruption cases in the DR. Two cases in particular stood out to me.


Estudiante de la UASD narra forma seria ejecutado por la PN

Brutalidad policial en santiago Rep dominicana

The first one has to do with the attempted murder of a UASD student by la Policia Nacional (and happened mere minutes away from what many believe to be an upscale neighborhood) while the second video covers the story of the PN murdering a man in broad daylight and in front of his family, because he refused to/couldn't pay them off. Both of these incidents happened in broad daylight and in front of many witnesses yet it didn't seem to mean much to these Police. I have noticed a widespread dislike for the Police in the DR. Many Dominicans call them the biggest thugs on the street. It seems like the DR is a honeypot of crime and you are not any more safe with the Police around when the criminals are out to do their robbing/killing/raping.


The situation in the DR seems (in ways) reminiscent of what Honduras has been struggling with since before the coup in 2009. Widespread corruption and the utter inability to deal with the booming drug trafficking that has been affecting the country for many years now. I think the Honduras of today (highest murder rate in the world, martial law in effect, no sign of things getting better, etc) offers a grim glimpse of what could be in store for the future of the DR if things keep going the way they have been.

It also seems to me like 90% of the population lives in different kinds of poverty while only the corrupt and the very few Dominicans who have been able to find success in the country make up the rest of the pop.

Where do the members of this forum see the country heading in the next 10 years? with the coming election it seems pretty likely that the two choices available to Dominicans will be either keeping the corrupt status quo or going back to the man who brought the country to its knees and then set it off on a downward spiral almost decade ago.

From the outside looking in, it looks pretty bad in the DR with no signs of much (if any) positive change.
 

Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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And your purpose in this is?

While I do not and will not attempt to justify police brutality, I sort of wonder abut this sort of post.

Sure, the police here are uneducated for the most part, can be brutal , insensitive, and very mean...

They have to deal with some uneducated, brutal, insensitive and very mean people, too.

As for the elections (?), perhaps your real reason for posting>??? The imperative is to get the PLD out, the PRD in and let the dice role where they may!! Whether it was the PRD who "brought the country to its knees" or whether it was an incredibly bold and horribly reckless banker named Ramon Baez Figueroa can be open to questions.

The fraud carried out by Baez and apparently other bankers, too, was NOT a part of PRD policy. It would be insane to even think it was. Making RD$77 billion disappear was an awesome feat. Bernie would be proud.

However, the extremely bold, daring and highly illegal step taken by Mejia, in which he instructed the Central Bank and the Monetary Board to repay every single penny that had been deposited in the Banco Intercontinental (BanInter) did do major harm to the economy. It flooded the country with pesos, jacked up the exchange rate to three times what it had been, and
caused the PRD to lose prestige and power.

It did save the country from default, bankruptcy and quite possibly some incredible violence.

For the last two years, editorial writers have been wondering just how long the Dominican masses will tolerate such corruption as exhibited by the PLD. Much like the poet, all we see are "taxes, taxes, taxes everywhere, and not a drop of service in return...." The people invented such phrases as "Comesolos" and "De chancleta a jipeta" and "las luci?rnegas" not the opposition.

One other thing that is incredibly subtle: The largest, hugest sign in Santiago and perhaps the Cibao features Margarita, not the candidate.....think about that. In 50 years of Dominican elections, I have never, ever seen something like that.....ever!
It sort of tells you who and what will really be ruling this country. Margarita and Funglode.....jejejeje...


HB
 

AlterEgo

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Jan 9, 2009
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Recently I have been looking into police corruption cases in the DR. Two cases in particular stood out to me.

Hi silverfunk, welcome to DR1.

Provocative first post, please tell us something about yourself. Dominican? where you live? ...etc.
 

Mauricio

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Nov 18, 2002
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Been here for 8 months.
The police here are friendlier than other places I have been. Yes, I got a ticket for driving without my seatbelt on, and I'm sure that if I had been the right shade of brown I wouldn't have been selected for the ticket. But that doesn't mean the police are bad. Walking around in some countries the police seem scary,but not here.
Der Fish

That's not the police that gave you the ticket. I haven't lived in any other country than my own and DR but I do think the police is scary, maybe in other countries they are more brutal, more corrupt etc. but here they approach any innocent passer by to try to get money, watch, food, anything else you have in your car. Especially when you travel through not so busy parts and you are driving when it's getting dark, you can bump into 2 or 3 police officers in their grey army-like suits . If I have a chance I don't stop.
 

JMB773

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Nov 4, 2011
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Dominicans as a whole are very PASSIVE and that is why so many things go untreated. The one thing I notice about the DR is the amount of BRAINWASHING that goes on, and everybody is a part of it.
 

gringostudent

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Dominicans as a whole are very PASSIVE and that is why so many things go untreated. The one thing I notice about the DR is the amount of BRAINWASHING that goes on, and everybody is a part of it.

Thats a legacy of trujillo. Ive noticed it a lot as well.

PN= biggest most successful gang in the DR
 

Kipling333

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Jan 12, 2010
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Surely Silverfunk , can raise any subject he wishes , even if it is his first posting and there are so many postings from Hillbilly that are very inaccurate in detail and not on the subject , that he lacks much credibility .I have never seen police deliberately kill a person but many of my friends have , in la Romana , in Gazcue and in Santiago ..and of course you read about the exeutions when police have captured a criminal shortly after a crime ,,the kidnapping in Nagua and the boy who was shot on his motor on his bithday in SD este .
It was about 5 years ago when motorists were stopped much more often by police, AMET and the Army and we had to pay over 50 to 100 pesos..this seems to have been reduced .However last year when mu house was robbed I had to pay the police 6000 pesos , two days later to have my stolen goods returned .
The police at nearly all ranks are paid poorly and yes they extort money from many people in pueblos around the country ,,it is just part of living here,
 

Kipling333

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Jan 12, 2010
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and why is it that some people think they own this board when it is quite possible that a far more intelligent and experienced person may join DR1 and make a posting far more enlightening than any of the old and repetitious contributors
 

Chip

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Jul 25, 2007
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Compared to other countries in the region it's a miracle the DR isn't more violent.

Yes the DR police has a very large corrupt component, but mostly they and the criminals end up killing themselves. Also, Dominican culture is very social and thus even though there are career criminals here most know who they are and where they live and eventually the police will tire of them if they are not paid well(as people say here)and not allow them to make it to the police station when they are caught the next time in the act of committing a crime. Also, once a person is considered by the community to be a criminal this label can stick with them for a very long time and makes their life dangerous because they become a target by corrupt police.
 

sgtjosephmiller

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Jan 7, 2012
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well said.couldn't agree with u more.you hit it right on the nose.moreover the pld have been robbing this country blind the last 8 years.leonito is on a total power trip.now he put his wife in postion to be vp 8 years then president 8 years then after that whos knows his son whos 20 years old will run for office hahaha lol.if thats not a dictatorship i don't know what is.
 

JMB773

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Nov 4, 2011
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Compared to other countries in the region it's a miracle the DR isn't more violent.

Yes the DR police has a very large corrupt component, but mostly they and the criminals end up killing themselves. Also, Dominican culture is very social and thus even though there are career criminals here most know who they are and where they live and eventually the police will tire of them if they are not paid well(as people say here)and not allow them to make it to the police station when they are caught the next time in the act of committing a crime. Also, once a person is considered by the community to be a criminal this label can stick with them for a very long time and makes their life dangerous because they become a target by corrupt police.

BINGO!!! BINGO!!! That is it Chip that is WRONG on so many levels and that is why the Dominican Republic is in the state it is today. I know criminals do awful things, but when the police becomes the JUDGE, JURY, and EXECUTIONER the police begin to think they are the VOICE of a nation. You never never never want to live in a nation were the police have more POWER then the people.

Everytime the police become the executioner and MURDER a thieve each and everyone of the people of the Dominicans DIES as well they just don't know it. Every human on the planet should be awarded "DUE PROCESS"

So to all the people who applaud the police when they commit a apalling murder just wait until ONE DAY they mistake your son or daughter for a " LADRON"

BTW I would not use the word social to describe Dominicans NOSEY is more like it, but in some rare occasions when you need them to be nosey they were taking a NAP!!!
 

Chip

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Jul 25, 2007
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I don't believe in street justice being a Christian but it's a reality of life that if one is going to lie with the dogs they are going to get fleas.

Also, for anyone who has kids here it makes all the more difference to know who they run with. That's becoming the case now even in the US.

Finally, we humans are a social being and it's just not normal or healthy for people to not know their neighbor and be friendly. BTW, while Dominicans can be nosey as you say I haven't had a problem counting on them. therefore, it always pays to be a good neighbor wherever you are.
 

silverfunk

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May 10, 2012
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Hi silverfunk, welcome to DR1.

Provocative first post, please tell us something about yourself. Dominican? where you live? ...etc.

Hello and thanks for the welcome. I was born in the DR and lived there until the age of 9. I've been living in New Jersey and Illinois ever since.


And your purpose in this is?

While I do not and will not attempt to justify police brutality, I sort of wonder abut this sort of post.

HB

Sorry I know my post was kind of all over the place, but I assure you I have no ulterior motive or any agenda to push if that is what you are referring to. I am just wondering about the current state and future of my home country, and I came here to see what residents and ex-residents of the DR think about the situation. My main concern is the corruption which seems present in all levels of the governing body.

On the case of Hipolito and the crisis of 2003, I think many would consider his reaction to the failure of the Banco Intercontinental to be the major point in the crisis. However, I admit I don't really know much about what the consequences would have been like had Hipolito let the bank fail. The banking crisis was not the only aspect of Hipolito's campaign that people hated though. I am just not convinced that "Papa"'s second term would bring any meaningful change to the graft, economic inequality and bold police abuse. Mind you, not that I prefer the Leonel/PLD leadership as they are the current party in power and provide an environment where corruption is thriving.

Chip stated that the police murdering criminals when they couldn't pay up is the norm while JMB773 said that this is wrong and not healthy for the country as a whole. I agree with JMB773 and while I understand that there are many desperate and ruthless criminals in the country, I don't believe an eye for an eye-like policy or a police force that thinks it runs the country and rules the citizens is ever going to be effective. It hasn't worked for Mexico or Honduras, Russia, etc.
 

Chip

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I don't believe an eye for an eye-like policy or a police force that thinks it runs the country and rules the citizens is ever going to be effective..

The DR has it's share of problems like anywhere else. If you point is that the DR needs to change it's police force and tactics we would all agree. Now what do we do? Exactly. You time is spent better understanding how it works if you live here and worry about other things that have a better chance of changing in your lifetime.
 

imfromda305

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Dec 9, 2011
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For the first time after hearing many horror stories about the police I'm now actually kinda.. shocked! And I mean really shocked!

Everytime people warn me I think I know it better, and most of the cases the outcome is towards my thinking.. or I think basically everytime I ignorned warnings it didn't bite me in the S.

But after thinking about everything now, when it comes to the police I don't know what to think anymore.. from being stopped by the police at night (because they are allowed to pick up people to throw them in jail) to being "arrested" because I didn't pay a taxi driver to being driven home one a motor bike by police.

My thing was, ever since I pulled out that Dutch ID it looked like police were more than willing to let me go.. that thing worked like a stay out of jail card! I mean, when being "arrested" my friend spend the night in jail just for being Dominican and not having an ID. They were quick to release me!

To only find out now (even after being told the same story day in day out) that the police actually don't give a fck! I mean, shooting people because they are thieves doesn't bother me for the simple fact that they will never ever catch me stealing because I just don't steal.

But to shoot dude because he didn't want to pay!?!?
 

imfromda305

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I think by the way also because of stories like this I underestimate the dangers of LRD:

Video: Think Again Before Visiting Mexico Anytime Soon: Cartel Dumps 49 Headless Bodies On A Highway!

I said it before, this is no Iraq or any of those countries where you get blown up for just walking down the streets. I mean, there are places I shouldn't be going but the horror ideas about these barios I'm going to ain't got shhh on what I'm thinking about Mexico por ejemplo!

You ain't never gonna see me in Mexico!
 

Chip

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I live in Santiago and can say where we live is no more dangerous than most big cities in the US. Of course I'm don't go out late at night wandering around though.