ANTAQNARIVO: ANNUAL CRIME EVALUATION QUESTIONNAIRE (ACEQ)Q

UNCLAS ANTANANARIVO 000099 SIPDIS DEPT FOR DS/IP/AF - ANTON KORT DEPT FOR DS/DSS/ITA - DANNY ROTHSTEIN DEPT FOR AF/E SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ASEC KRCM MA SUBJECT: ANTAQNARIVO: ANNUAL CRIME EVALUATION QUESTIONNAIRE (ACEQ)Q ¶1. (U) CRIME MOBILITY: ¶B. Criminal elements generally concentrate their activities in high crime areas, but sometimes enter nearby neighborhoods, including those containing Mission housing. COMMENT: Criminal elements in the capital usually focus on densely populated areas and commercial zones but sometimes branch out into the neighborhood where most Mission residences are located. ¶2. (U) CRIME AMBIENCE: ¶B. Mission neighborhoods are surrounded by low crime buffer zones, which are perceived as safe during the day, but are unsafe at night because of petty street crime. COMMENT: While our neighborhoods do not have buffer zones per se, it is generally safe to walk around the Mission housing area day and night. However, the perception by thieves is that foreigners have money; therefore crimes are committed in our neighborhoods and surrounding areas day and night. RSO does not advise walking at night outside of the Mission housing area. ¶3. (U) AGGRESSIVENESS OF CRIMINALS: ¶C. Criminal perpetrators usually commit street crimes and burglaries, and are not deterred by risk of confrontation with occupants during burglaries. COMMENT: Traditionally, Malagasy are passive people. In previous ACEQs's post had reported a sharp increase in crime. However, during this reporting period, crime has decreased significantly despite the struggling economy. Criminal gangs do exist and are comprised of former felons, ex-military and police from the former regime. In the past these gangs have been responsible for committing home invasions and kidnappings in Madagascar. Often the criminals know the occupants of the residence and have no problem confronting them. ¶4. (U) ARMING OF CRIMINALS: ¶B. Criminal perpetrators usually are armed with knives/lethal cutting weapons. COMMENT: Most criminals in Madagascar carry some sort of weapon when committing an offense. That can be partly attributed to the fact that most Malagasy men carry knives or other edged weapons for self-defense and/or for work. In the past criminals armed themselves with pistols and in some cases with automatic weapons such as AK-47'S. These weapons are believed to be from stocks issued to former police and military members of the former GOM regime. Further, there have been several arrests of individuals making home made handguns. ¶5. (U) AGGREGATION OF CRIMINALS: ¶C. Criminal perpetrators usually operate in groups of two to four individuals (or larger) and occasionally can be confrontational and violent. ¶6. (SBU) DETERRENCE/RESPONSE OF POLICE: ¶C. In the past Local police were ineffective at deterring crime. However, there has been a significant improvement as law enforcement officials have increased the number of police patrols throughout the city. One area that continues to hinder police is the response time to alarms or emergency calls with in a reasonable amount of time. It usually takes 30 minutes or longer for police to respond. Police have a mediocre record in apprehending suspects after the fact. Moreover there is a tendency to shoot and kill suspects rather than physically apprehending them. COMMENT: Embassy Antananarivo is very active in its efforts to detect and deter crime in the American Diplomatic Community. Local police have a history of being non-effective in deterring crime. Moreover their response time is usually 30 minutes or more. Often they depend on the Embassy to provide transportation to a particular crime event or conducting an investigation. The Embassy's 24/7 local guard force (LGF) program, combined with the LGF contractor's roving patrol that has the capability of responding within minutes, is our best deterrent against violent, invasive crime in our housing area. ¶7. (SBU) TRAINING/PROFESSIONALISM OF POLICE ¶C. Police are mediocre in professionalism and training; they are somewhat apathetic toward Post residential security requirements, including response to alarms and investigation of incidents in Mission neighborhoods; they have definite resource/manpower limitations that inhibit their deterrence or response effectiveness. COMMENT: There are two national police forces in Madagascar. The National Police has criminal jurisdiction for all cities in Madagascar, and has the responsibility to protect Mission residential areas from criminal activity. The Gendarmerie is considered to be more professional and responsive than the National Police, having assisted Post in the past with regard to criminal incidents against Peace Corps Volunteers. Police/Gendarmerie lack professional training in many areas of policing. However, since joining the International Law Enforcement Academy (Gaborone, Botswana) the level of expertise and professionalism is improving. Further, tQ police lack resources that would enable them to be more responsive (vQicles, communication systems). MCGEE