Citizen insecurity as politicians waffle

Citizen insecurity is one of the great concerns that afflict Panamanians. It is no coincidence that the seven presidential candidates have within their government plans the use of different strategies of soft hands, hard hands, increased strength of the security forces, expansion of the penitentiary centers, increased coverage of the surveillance cameras, strengthening of social reinsertion initiatives and the reform of the country codes. To a large extent, these efforts seek to replace a serious lack: the lack of a criminological policy of the Panamanian State. For the last fifteen years, the call of the State Pact for Justice to agree on public policy on this matter has been ignored. Thus, the Panamanian security forces are endowed with vast resources and have important response capacities, but they do not effectively cover the population, which is a victim of micro-crime, intra-family violence and the deterioration of their quality of life due to public disorder. The great challenge is to make a State policy that protects us all. – LA PRENSA, April. 19