Despite incentives to dignify the work of the National Civil Police (PNC), there are still barriers that prevent the institution from improving its image and results, since agents who were accused of having committed crimes manage to be reinstated by relying on judicial resolutions that free them from charges.
According to agents of the PNC General Inspectorate, one of the problems that the institution is facing most at the moment is that police officers involved in illegal acts, including extortion of drunk drivers, are returning to their posts.
According to police inspectors, in order to discharge an officer, administrative processes must be followed that become “long and bureaucratic,” and that is when the officer, in defense of his rights and arguing his innocence, returns to work.
Involved
For the director of the PNC, David Custodio Boteo, the problem exists and “salary dignity must be improved” to encourage the agent, although he also considers it important to reform the institution’s regulations.
“Many police officers have returned to their previous positions with court orders. There are some against whom it is not possible to prove that they have committed any criminal offence. However, there is a lot of information that indicates that they did participate in an offence,” he commented.
Boteo said he does not have the number of officers who have returned to the institution, although he proposes that everything be simplified, and if there is strong information that implicates a police officer, that he be “discharged” immediately.
“We want to dignify the agent with a higher salary, but we want the disciplinary regime to be more drastic and not so bureaucratic. We want to give a raise, but if someone gets into trouble, they should be fired immediately,” he said.
Incentives
As part of the Police Transformation Strategy (ETP), canteens for PNC agents began to be installed in early 2023. Currently, seven are in operation for different police stations in the department of Guatemala, benefiting some 14,000 police officers.
The objective of these canteens is to achieve “good nutrition for the troops” and to have free food for three meals a day. Since the previous administration, the authorities of the Ministry of the Interior have indicated that this is part of the incentives to prevent personnel from getting involved in illegal activities, since, according to calculations, by having free food for three meals a month they would save around Q1,500 thousand.
Boteo said that although the cafeterias are an incentive for police personnel, they also have a limitation, mainly when the agents are on operations and cannot eat in these premises.
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As a solution, the official said, the possibility of granting food vouchers is being considered, so that they do not necessarily go to the soup kitchens. However, it was also found that this type of benefit is not used for food, but rather to cover other expenses and to pay off loans.
“We can’t say ‘we’re going to remove the cafeterias and give a bonus’, because there is no money either. The decision was made to continue with the cafeterias until we have the resources to give a bonus to all the agents,” said Boteo.
“A seniority bonus of Q200 every two years has also been proposed, and the amount will be higher each time the employee gets older, so that the employee earns more and is not exposed to asking for money,” he added.
Reforms
On February 6, the plenary session of the Congress of the Republic heard the initiative that seeks to reform the National Civil Police Law, despite the fact that it was presented to the Legislative Directorate in January 2022.
The proposal was discussed in the Justice Sector Reform Commission, which was then headed by Congressman Osmundo René Ponce.
The project suggests that a police career be established, provided certain criteria are met.
It proposes that members of the Police receive decent salaries appropriate to their function, as well as adequate social security measures.
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