At the Police Academy located in Hatillo, San Cristobal, the National
Police graduated 521 patrol men and women. The new graduates will be
assigned to Santo Domingo and Santiago patrols under the Democratic
Security Program. Speaking to the new graduates, Police Chief Bernardo
Santana Paez urged them to respect human lives and civil liberties.
Santana reminded the new officers that the Cold War is over and that
the persecution of ideas no longer has a role to play in the police.
The chief said that now is the time to fight crime, but without
violating a person’s civil rights. He promised to continue training
those currently on duty and to recruit more university students for
the force. Of the 521 graduates 453 are men and 68 women. Of these,
119 are currently enrolled in university programs.