President Hipolito Mejia issued yesterday several decrees that advance the reform of the police force. The police reform project has been contemplated for years, but had barely got off to a concrete start until now. The decrees feature new mandates for the use of public force, transfer the traffic police to the Metropolitan Transport Authority (AMET), and the responsibility for the custody of the jails to the Attorney General office (Procuraduria General de la Republica). The President also ordered the preparation of a ruling for the use of public force in special circumstances, ordered the creation of the Social Security Institute for the Police, and the Human Dignity Institute of the Police. The latter will train the force to act without prejudice and discrimination and adhere to human rights. The new dispositions should go into effect in 90 days. The decrees come as governmental response to the excess of force shown by the police to impede a march of Dominican Medical Association physicians to the National Congress to protest the social security bill. Most all circles, including government sectors have rejected the repression by the Police. The Medical Association called off a nationwide public hospital strike to protest the police action, but said it would continue efforts to seek that the bill be modified.
