A total of 81 members of the Córdoba Police ended up with serious disciplinary sanctions in 2022, for having committed crimes and administrative offenses. Of that total, the majority ended up suspended from their duties. The rest were laid off and dismissed: that is, they were fired.
In parallel, 2022 ended with 244 uniformed officers, the vast majority of them police officers, separated from their work due to investigations opened for poor performance. That is to say, they were under the magnifying glass and, for now, they are still not in operation in 2023.
Of the sections of his work, the vast majority remained in a passive situation. This implies: not being able to use the weapon, handing in the identification plate at Headquarters and being left with a significant reduction in salary. In addition, additional custody cannot be made (which means extra income) while the summary is in progress.
The rest of the batch of those who are separated is made up, to a much lesser extent, prison guards from the Córdoba Penitentiary Service (SPC) and members of the Anti-Drug Trafficking Police Force (FPA).
Open investigations may end in dismissals or, conversely, in the sanctions mentioned above.
All these figures come from a report prepared by the Disciplinary Control Agency of the Security Forces of Córdoba; better known as “the new Court of Conduct”, and to which La Voz agreed.
Returning to the 81 police officers sanctioned, in 61 percent of the cases, the decision was made following determining that they had incurred in poor performance at work.
The second cause of sanction is institutional violence: acting on the street with citizens (17 percent).
The third cause of disciplinary sanction has to do with open files for family or gender violence (10 percent).
As a fourth reason, there are the acts of corruption (8 percent).
The rest is due to other faults that are related to the work itself (stop working or absent, for example).
Although the figure is shocking, it should be noted that it represents less than 1 percent of the total active force of the Police. The institution has regarding 20 members in the province.
All these disciplinary measures are carried out, as explained by the institution, independently of Justice.
In any case, it is known that generally, following a judicial sentence, layoffs necessarily arrive. Condemned policeman is a fired policeman who never comes back.
Then, there will be the internal discussion regarding whether or not he will receive retirement. Sometimes that discussion finds its way to the civil courts.
Another element to highlight is that seven out of 10 police officers who were under investigation were non-commissioned officers, that is, the low charges. “La juanada”, as they say indoors. The rest were officers, that is, the bosses and the bosses
There is one no less point: the faults of the top bosses (the Staff) are resolved, historically, in the Government House.
barrage of complaints
The Disciplinary Control Body of the Security Forces is a direct consequence of the treacherous murder of Blas Correas.
The two policemen directly involved in that murder might not have been working that morning. Both Lucas Gómez and Cristian Alarcón had open proceedings in the old Court of Police Conduct. However, they continued to carry weapons.
As a political response, the Government endorsed a plan by the then Security Minister, Alfonso Mosquera, and a new entity was created to control uniformed personnel.
This is how the new Control Body arose by law, which began to function at the end of 2021. The entity investigates and punishes serious and very serious offenses from that date. You cannot act retroactively.
The pre-existing causes of 2021 must be resolved by the old Court of Police Conduct.
Thus, in 2022 a very high number of complaints once morest uniformed officers were received. Mainly from the police force.
According to the report of the Disciplinary Control Body, last year 2,303 complaints were received.
The vast majority of these cases were initiated, as indicated, by complaints or presentations by the security forces themselves. The rest began due to complaints from civilian individuals. To a lesser extent, the files were initiated ex officio as a result of the publications in the press.
The Discipline Control Body works with civilian personnel: lawyers mostly. According to what has been indicated, they are investigations that do not depend on the provincial Police.
After analyzing the complaints presented, and following rejecting some because they did not constitute faults, the investigations themselves began.
Some causes prospered, advanced and ended with 81 uniformed officers sanctioned for very serious offenses. Three others were dismissed.
Those police officers who are not exonerated or laid off must complete educational courses and carry out community tasks.
Last year, in parallel to the sanctions, 444 preventive measures were adopted: uniformed officers kept away while the investigation was carried out. The measure was lifted for a large part, but 244 ended the year in a passive situation.
