Policía Nacional Bolivariana
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Bolivarian National Police Policía Nacional Bolivariana |
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|---|---|
| Abbreviation | PNB |
| Agency overview | |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| National agency | VEN |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | Caracas |
The Policía Nacional Bolivariana (Bolivarian National Police, PNB) is Venezuela's national police force, created in 2009. Law enforcement in Venezuela has historically been highly fragmented and the creation of a national police force was originally not popular among the public and organizations. The creation of a National Police was one of the recommendations of a 2006 National Commission on Police Reform (CONAREPOL). As per the CONAREPOL recommendations, the PNB works with local communal councils and is intended to respect human rights in a way Venezuelan police often have not. At the time the force was set up, the wage rate for officers in the new force was three times higher than that in existing forces.
Initially active in parts of Caracas, the first six months of operations saw falls of around 60% in rates of murder and robbery in the areas the PNB was active. As of July 2010, the PNB had around 2,400 officers, with a further 1,400 in training. Now it has grown into an estimated 20,000 strong national police force.
In 2001, the Venezuelan National Assembly gave the government one year to create a national police force. President Hugo Chávez then attempted to create a centralized national police force, announcing to create one in August 2002. However, the Venezuelan public, academics, NGOs and municipal governments rejected the idea with Alfredo Peña stating that the police would possibly be used to repress protesters, resulting with the Venezuelan government canceling the creation of a national police force.
In 2006 a National Commission on Police Reform (CONAREPOL, from the Spanish name) conducted studies aimed at reforming the police, in consultation with police and local communities. It found that
"Careful study of the different police agencies makes it evident that many do not have adequate infrastructure, and they are lacking in basic services or the spaces that are necessary for police activities (e.g., holding cells). In other cases, they do not even have their own building. Higher level technological resources (phones, fax, internet connection, computers, software) are relatively rare or, if present, are found only at central headquarters. Lack of, or deficiencies in, infrastructure are most marked for the municipal police.… [T]he majority of [all] police agencies are unable to assign a firearm to each officer on duty; neither are there sufficient handcuffs or bullet-proof vests. Some agencies have only one firearm for the whole force."
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Wikipedia