Lost war on Drugs DR impact is 75% of crime here
Police chief Major General Manuel Castro Castillo has called for an end to lenience by the courts at a time when 89 police agents have been murdered and another 130 injured by criminals. In an interview with El Nuevo Diario, Castro said: "It's a war." He said the criminals do not respect uniformed police on the beat.
He reported that the Police have arrested 40,342 people for crime. 22,000 were arrested for robbery and muggings. "But many of them are let out of jail easily," he said.
Castro Castillo called for a more active judiciary that applies the laws and codes because "if Justice played its role, there would be less crime."
He said that while the Police starts the investigation into a crime, it is the prosecutor who validates the proof. If there is an error in the paperwork, then the prosecutor should tell the police to correct it, he said.
He went on to say that what happens is that the criminals kill agents, fire at them and many of them get out by paying as little as RD$2,000.
The Police chief said that in Villa Maria recently, a police patrol tried to stop criminals who had mugged a group of young people in the early hours, and the criminals fired at the police. "In any other country, when they saw the Police those criminals would throw their firearms to the ground and would go to jail for at least five years. Here they fire at the Police and remain on the streets," he said.
The Police chief said that homicide rate in 2013 was 20.3 in every 100,000 and this has dropped to 18.4, which is significant.
Commenting on the reasons behind crime in the country, he mentioned that the Police had seized 1,610,824 grams of narcotics. But he recalled that a General from the US Southern Command had told the US Congress that the United States had lost the war against drugs, and that the Caribbean route would increasingly be used by traffickers for sending drugs to Europe and the United States.
Castro said that drug trafficking set up shop here a long time ago, and has grown to the point where it generates 75% of crime. "Other organizations like the National Drug Control Agency are not criticized and no one talks about their deficiencies," he complained. He defended the National Police by saying it is one of the law and order institutions that worked the hardest and with the greatest efficiency.
In his opinion one of the best ways to guarantee citizen safety is through education. He said that President Danilo Medina was "planting" schools. "The more education there is, the less crime there will be," he said.
"There are 8 to 12-year-old girls and boys in the barrios who are already addicted to drugs and are potential criminals," said Castro. He also called for more responsible parenting.