The minister of Interior, Nicolás Martinelli, appeared for more than 10 hours in front of the Parliament, and among the topics he discussed was the “dual approach” strategy that the portfolio implements to combat the crime and its causes in Uruguay.
By his own request – beating the hand of the Broad Front (FA)— and before the critical gaze of the opposition, for whom the “overly positive issues in numerical matters, purely of daily and administrative management” were not enough to cover what they understand as a critical problem; Martinelli spoke for more than 10 hours about the security management of the current government, which is entering its last year.
Accompanied by the undersecretary Pablo Abdala and eight police and civilian officials, the Minister of the Interior presented the crime figures, the dual strategy and the axes of his management: homicides, drug trafficking and technology. In addition, he detailed the plans for the construction of new places in prisons and the results of recent operations in four neighborhoods of Montevideo, and requested in two instances that the session become secret to report on the crime situation in Durazno and the strategy to combat drug trafficking.
The strategy to reduce crimes
As he had anticipated, Martinelli spoke of a “dual approach” strategywhich points both to punishment of the crime as his prevention through understanding and action on its causes. According to the leader, from 1985 to 2004 the ministry was “focused on police repression” and “timidly on the causes” of crime, while from 2005 to 2019 “the FA decided well-intentioned on a policy focused on preventing the causes of crime.” , and put repression aside.”
In the first stage there was “a moderate but sustained growth” in crime, while in the second, “a spike in crimes.” In that sense, he added that “the dual approach is learning from both periods.”
On the other hand, Martinelli highlighted three measures that are part of the security strategy and that will allow homicides to continue to decrease—in 2023 there was one less murder recorded than in 2022, and 50% were due to clashes between criminal groups—: creation of Homicide Department in August 2023, depending on the Address of Investigations of the National Police and that will work in a focused way; the recent implementation of shotspotter, an early gunshot detection tool; and the implementation of a program by which teams of “mediators, interrupters and technicians” coordinated by the North American organization Cure Violence will work on reducing violence in two areas of Montevideo.
Regarding these measures, the director of the National Police, José Azambuya, He explained that the Homicide Department works, for the moment, focused on Montevideo, and that it investigated 77 homicides with a rate of cleared murders of 53% and of advanced investigations of 32%. “Although there is little reading in these months, the objective of the department achieving greater effectiveness in the clarification of the homicides so far” has been “achieved,” he noted.
In respect of shotspotter, Martinelli said that “202 shots have been detected in two quadrants, one of five square kilometers, and another of seven square kilometers, where these microphones are located that calculate the exact location of where the shot occurred, on the ground or on top of a building. , and that allows the Police to attend more quickly” and even “save some lives.” The minister highlighted that “in places with 300,000 and 100,000 inhabitants, homicides have been reduced by up to 15%.”
Finally, regarding the switch program that will be implemented this year, the ministry announced that yesterday the call was opened to hire two Civil society organizations, those who must have experience in the neighborhoods in which the program will be implemented.
Source: Ambito
