LE Heirarchy in the DR

There are also Policia Municipal, Secret Police, DNI.

As far as I know: DNI - equivalent of FBI
Policia Municipal in charge of a local area - roads, lighting, beaches, non payment of taxes etc
Politur - tourists and prostitutes and foreigners even if you have been here a while
Amet - traffic
PN everything else

Yesthey respect hierarchy in other branches. So if you are having problems with Politur you can call on a Colonel in Policia Municipal to help you out, and they often liaise.

Matilda

Sorry forgot to answer your last question. They do change at the top fairly frequently so you may hob nob one day and find yourself hobnob less the next. best for a tourist and ex pat would be Politur and PN probably and business owner Policia Municipal as well as the other two.

I see cobraboy didn't ask & Matilda didn't respond mentioning DNCD. Wonder why that is? I'm jesting, I don't wonder at all actually. But they are another branch of law enforcement.

With regard to hobnobbing I think there may be geographical differences. For example in certain parts of north coast Politur & DNCD have a bad reputation whereas Policia Nacional do not, in the main, share that. So as a resident expat you would hobnob where you knew reputations were cleanest. In any event, cobraboy, you're likely to be introduced to the good elements by your fiancee's family or another expat you know. Tends to be done on word of mouth & it can take time to build up the sort of relationships which bear fruit when you need them to.