Education Minister Alejandrina German has announced the creation of a new “School Police” composed of 500 agents, which will begin operating on 22 August 2005, the date when public schools are due to open, as reported in El Caribe. She explained that the new instructors are trained in conjunction with the Ministry of Interior and Police. The new school police is going to work directly in schools and will have a preventive vision in collaboration with the educational community, she stated. Meanwhile, the police have sent out 10,000 agents in “Operation Paloma” meant to fight crime as part of the Democratic Security Plan.