Security Minister wants respect for police officers.

In the midst of a growing outcry over alleged police brutality, Panama's Security Minister, Jose Raul Mulino,  has called on the public to respect law enforcement officers.

Reports  have been published, along with photographs of a doctor with severe  facial bruising and broken cheek bones, and a businessman with buttocks beaten black and blue. The latest expose in La Estrella on Tuesday.identifies a mother who claims her son was killed by the police and after a year there have been no ballistic test results to identify the killer’s gun.

Earlier in the year, police guarding offenders in a juvenile detention center stood by while youths in a burning cell screamed for help. Five died and others were severely burned.

Last year at least two demonstrators will killed by riot police, several blinded and scores injured.

Mulino said the cases reported will be investigated by the authorities but said that so far there have been no dismissals or suspensions for police abuse. "That will be determined by the investigating authorities."
During a stopover in Madrid, Spain, en route to Italy,to participate in a conference Mulino said that officers deserve respect because they work daily to protect Panamanians against crime.
"The police roadblocks  are to give more security and  we will continue working to improve, and we are willing to correct the path if required," he said.