Ombudsman demands suspenion of police monitoring device device

Panama’s Ombudsman has called for the suspension of the  Pele Police device  until its database is brought up-to-date.

Ricardo Vargas says that the electronic verifier in use by National Police has led to arbitrary arrests and illegal detentions.

While the Pele Police device was a good initiative in helping to prosecute crimes and identify people who have outstanding problems with the law: "we insist on the need to suspend its use until the database used by this electronic device is adequately updated."
Vargas said that in recent days there have been complaints regarding the use of the apparatus by police during security operations and referred to the case of La Prensa journalist, José Otero, who was detained on Saturday, Oct. 16 in the province of Colón, after authorities applied the Pele Police and linked him to a judicial process that  had expired nine years ago.

The device has also caught thousands of drivers with unpaid fines, recovering  millions of dollars for the state, and has identified some wanted  criminals and escaped prisoners.