Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05LIMA4294
2005-10-04 14:04:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Lima
Cable title:  

PRESIDENT TOLEDO ANNOUNCES NATIONAL CITIZEN

Tags:  PGOV PINS KCRM PE 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
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

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