The Penitentiary System will Receive 75 Agents of Mayor Mayer Mizrachi’s Panama City Municipal Police Force.

The Municipal Police of the capital’s mayor, Mayer Mizrachi, so criticized by President José Raúl Mulino and the Minister of Public Security, Frank Ábrego, both pictured below, has found an ally in the Cabinet.  Agents from that municipal force will now be at the disposal of the General Directorate of the Penitentiary System, thanks to an agreement that Mizrachi reached with the Minister of Government, Dinoska Montalvo.  The agreement implies that the Municipal Police will support the tasks carried out by the Penitentiary System, the entity in charge of security in the country’s prisons. 

Mizrachi authorized the Human Resources Department of the capital city to make 75 municipal agents available to the Ministry of Government.  The officials will be under the figure of an “inter-institutional loan”.  “Their incorporation will be carried out gradually, according to institutional capacity and availability,” the Mayor’s Office confirmed.  On July 20, the director of the Penitentiary System, Chanan Singh pictured below, requested the support of these agents from Mayor Mizrachi for a period of six months, that is, from July to December of this year, with the “purpose of strengthening the security and operational support work of said entity.” 

The request came a month and a half after the escape of 195 inmates from the La Joyita prison complex in Las Garzas, considered the largest escape recorded in the country.  According to the Mayor’s Office of Panama, the Human Resources Procedure Manual for the Administrative Career and Law 9 of 1994, established that the figure of “loan” consists of the temporary relocation of a public servant, whether or not, he is in the administrative career, in another institution for “the performance of his functions related to the institutional objectives”, without exceeding the budgeted period. 

Questions.

According to former mayor José Blandón pictured below, the transfer of these agents is being “forced” amidst the discussion and legal challenges of unconstitutionality that have been filed against the creation of the Municipal Police.  “They are going to serve as guards in the prisons. What is going on?” Blandón questioned.  The former mayor pointed out that the Municipality of Panama has numerous facilities that require surveillance, including kindergartens, libraries, parks, and sports centers.  “Instead of doing that, they have been doing everything to satisfy the mayor’s thirst for the limelight,” he stated. 

The creation of the Municipal Police, approved by the Municipal Council of Panama at the behest of the mayor, has also been questioned from a constitutional point of view.  Recently, the Attorney General of the Nation, Luis Carlos Gómez Rudy pictured below, opined that the creation of this force is unconstitutional, after the Supreme Court of Justice requested his position on the lawsuit of unconstitutionality presented by the deputy of the Seguimos party, Ernesto Cedeño, against Municipal Agreement #162 of June 17, 2025.  Municipal Agreement #162  that approved the creation of the Municipal Police, was also challenged by the Minister of Public Security, Frank Ábrego.

The Chief of the National Police, Jaime Fernández pictured below, had previously filed a challenge, but the full Supreme Court rejected the appeal, citing “formal defects” in the “concept of infraction.”  President José Raúl Mulino also commented on this issue . In early August, he stated that the Municipal Police “cannot be transformed into another police force.”  “I hope that gets torn down,” he commented.  Prior to the president’s tweet, on August 3, an incident occurred at the Hatillo building, the headquarters of the Panama City Hall, when former employees of the Panama City Hall went to demand payment of their benefits. The Municipal Police responded violently, and one former employee suffered head trauma, for which he was hospitalized in serious condition.

The Agreement with the Municipal Police ‘Was Not Formalized’ and for Legal Reasons ‘It Was Not Viable’ Announced by the Ministry of the Interior.

On July 20, the director of the Penitentiary System requested the “loan” of municipal police officers until December 31, 2027, “for the purpose of strengthening security efforts.” On August 8, President Mulino wrote that the Municipal Police was unconstitutional. “I hope that gets overturned,” he stated. The Ministry of Government (Mingob) assured this Friday that it does not keep municipal agents inside the prisons, shortly after news media reported that the Directorate of the Penitentiary System signed an agreement with the mayor of the capital, Mayer Mizrachi, for 75 members of the Municipal Police to support in their tasks.  In a statement, the Ministry of the Interior does not deny the existence of the agreement; what it rejects is its implementation.

“ While at one point, with the purpose of reinforcing the security of the centers, the possibility of requesting such support was explored and, as it was not legally viable, it proved impossible to move forward with the formalization of an inter-institutional agreement ,” the press release states.

The Ministry of the Interior assures that in the penitentiary centers “only prison guards are kept”, although external security is handled by agents of the National Police (PN).  The Minister of Government, Dinoska Montalvo, signed the loan agreement with Mayor Mizrachi, despite the many questions that the Municipal Police have received.  President José Raúl Mulino; the Attorney General, Luis Carlos Gómez Rudy; the Minister of Security, Frank Ábrego; and the Director of the National Police, Jaime Fernández, have warned that the creation of the Municipal Police violates the Constitution.  On July 20, the director of the Penitentiary System requested the Mayor of Panama City to loan municipal police officers on an “inter-institutional basis” until December 31, 2027, “for the purpose of strengthening security efforts.” Subsequently, on August 8, President Mulino wrote in X that the Municipal Police was unconstitutional. “I hope that gets overturned,” he stated.