Interior and the Police Minister Franklin Almeyda was interviewed by a reporter from the Miami Herald and came out looking like a reformer who had his hands tied by the cruel realities of Dominican corruption. After a tough meeting with police generals, Almeyda told the officers, “This reform will proceed.” And, according to the reporter, the reforms proceeded. In a country where some police officials will pay upwards of US$10,000 to get a promotion, knowing that bribes increase as they move up in rank, Almeyda has launched an assault on police corruption. A few days after the meeting in November, heads began to roll. In what Almeyda called a “symbolic purge”, 550 members of the 30,000 man police force most closely linked to corrupt actions were sacked, including 48 recent graduates of the Police Academy. Almeyda also moved forward with a plan to enlist the help of New Your City Police Department specialists and establish an effective internal affairs department. At first Almeyda wanted to remove 8,000 cops, but President Leonel Fernandez told him to stop such a move since it would create an instant crime wave. Currently, he is working on a plan to gradually get rid of one-half of the force and double the salary of the remaining half in an attempt to eliminate the moonlighting of those who stay on the job. Another plan of Almeyda’s is to send officers to John Jay College of Criminal Justice and he is also setting up a program with police from Colombia who tamed Bogota and made it a safe have in a civil war. An internal affairs department in the National Police was started during the first Fernandez administration but was left to atrophy during the Mejia years, 2000-2004. Now, Almeyda says that with the help of Charles Campisi, the NYPD Internal Affairs boss, the program will go forward.