Restaurant owners, police, unite to frustrate gang raids

Over 200 dining establishments and bars have endorsed a “Restaurang Watchers ” program in response to a series of coordinated raids on restaurants by an armed gang in August, when owners and customers were attacked and robbed,
During a Wednesday, September 3 ,meeting, lasting over four hours, between police heads in charge of various districts, and owners and managers of restaurants, it was agreed to start the initiative that aims to overcome criminal acts against the businesses.
“Restaurant Watchers” seeks to improve communication between restaurant owners and security institutions, working the same way as other community programs like “Shop Rangers”, “Carrier Rangers”, “Neighborhood Watchdogs”, “Hotels Watchers”, and others in Panama.
According to Deputy Commissioner Rafael Alvarez, head of the Department of Public Safety, each of the local districts of San Francisco, Bethania, Bella Vista, Rio Abajo and Parque Lefevre will have a logo identifying them as part of the program.
Rino Tamburrelli was chosen as the overall coordinator of restaurant owners; Koreena Bajwa will represent Bella Vista and Abel Rodriguez will be the coordinator for the districts of Parque Lefevre and Rio Abajo.
Tamburrelli said that the agreement was necessary and “All will contribute together to tackle the criminal acts.”
The program will be inaugurated at the next meeting but no date has been set.
The gang including juveniles that carried out the initial attacks has been dismantled by the National police and over a score of suspects are behind bars, awaiting trial