PRESIDENT TOLEDO ANNOUNCES NATIONAL CITIZEN

UNCLAS LIMA 004294 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PINS KCRM PE SUBJECT: PRESIDENT TOLEDO ANNOUNCES NATIONAL CITIZEN SECURITY PLAN REF: LIMA 4163 ¶1. SUMMARY. New public security measures announced by President Toledo on 9/29 include more police patrols in high crime areas, vehicle purchases, prison reforms, a focus on highway robberies, and new training academies. Although some of the resources required will be generated internally through reassignment of officers from protective and administrative duties, implementation of the plan will require the GOP to allocate significant new funding to the police. END SUMMARY. ¶2. President Alejandro Toledo unveiled a new Plan for Citizen Security on 9/29. The initiative consists of 13 measures scheduled to be implemented by December 2006. Toledo was accompanied in his presentation by the new ranking members of his security team, Interior Minister Romulo Pizarro and Peruvian National Police (PNP) Director Luis Montoya. The new measures provide further evidence of the GOP's desire to deal with public concerns about crime in the streets, and come just 10 days after the announcement of a package of salary and benefit increases for police officers (Reftel). ¶3. The following are some of the highlights of the President's plan: -- A new 1,500-member Citizen Security Squadron will be deployed to areas where crime rates are highest, with special emphasis going to increased police patrols at schools and street markets. Staffing of this new unit will come about in part by reassigning 300 officers who presently carry out dignitary protection and administrative duties. -- Police patrols will achieve greater mobility through the immediate repair of 500 vehicles that are currently out of commission, and the purchase of 50 new patrol units. In 2006, the GOP will acquire 150 additional patrol cars, and 300 motorcycles. -- Communications will be improved by installing 850 computers in police stations throughout the country, and by increasing the capacity of the "105" emergency system (equivalent to 911 in the U.S.). -- Procedures in the prison system will be tightened up, by installing cell phone blocking equipment at penitentiaries, and by concentrating the most dangerous convicts at maximum-security facilities, such as the high-altitude Yanamayo Prison in Puno. -- The growing proliferation of armed robberies along Peru's highways will be addressed by prohibiting bus companies from picking up long-haul passengers at other than authorized terminals, and by requiring the companies to film passengers as they board. -- The GOP will work with the judicial branch to increase the number of Justices of the Peace that are co-located with police stations, in order to provide a speedier mechanism for dealing with minor offenses. -- The PNP will move ahead with plans to create four new decentralized training academies, in Ayacucho, Huancavelica, Pucallpa and Huanuco, with a combined capacity of 700 students. Additional academies are slotted to open next year in Trujillo, Andahuaylas and Cajamarca. ¶4. The public reaction to the measures announced by the President was uniformly favorable. Opposition APRA Congressman Luis Gonzales Posada, head of the Congressional Sub-Committee on Citizen Security, referred to the plan as a positive advance, and said the next step will be to increase the PNP budget to cover the cost of these new measures. (COMMENT: The increase in police funding announced on 9/19 included a line item of USD 14 million for operational expenses such as gasoline, travel and meals; the new Citizen Security measures appear to represent funding requirements over and above this previous allocation. END COMMENT.) STRUBLE