Of 3,000 new policemen job openings, the National Police has only been able to recruit 300. Apparently the starting salaries of RD$1,600 and long work hours are not attractive to Dominicans. Hoy newspaper recently published that 9 out of 10 policemen make less than RD$6,000. The great majority make less than RD$3,000, which is barely enough to make a living in the DR. Of the police force of 23,000 agents, even those with university degrees make less than RD$10,000. The Fernández government programmed an increase for policemen in the 2000 budget. The starting salary for the metropolitan transit police is three times that of the starting salary for the grey-uniformed police force.
