Santo Domingo.- Police reform will not solve the security crisis if the institution’s real problem is not corrected, which, in the opinion of former National Police Director Guillermo Guzmán Fermín, is the lack of management, strategic direction, and preventive planning.
“The Police’s problem is not financial, it is one of police management; it is a lack of a preventive security plan,” stated Guzmán Fermín.
When interviewed on the radio program “Esto No Tiene Nombre” (This Has No Name), broadcast on La Nota 95.7 FM, the member of the political leadership of the Fuerza del Pueblo party questioned the approach of the changes approved to the Organic Law of the National Police.
The former police chief maintained that the institution needs a strategy designed by the Ministry of Interior and Police and not just legal or administrative modifications.
“If the Police do not have a preventive security plan or program designed by the Ministry of the Interior, the Police cannot perform an efficient role,” he stated.
Guzmán Fermín also rejected the incorporation of a civilian financial administrator within the Police with the rank of deputy director general and stated that the institution’s main resource is not equipment or budget, but its agents.
“The main resource that the National Police has is not the vehicles, it is not the uniform, it is not the stations or the weaponry; the main resource is the police officer,” he stated.
His statements come after the approval of changes to Organic Law 590-16 of the National Police, which include modifications to the police career path, the disciplinary regime, the differentiated use of force, and other institutional aspects.
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The debate over the reform intensified following cases such as that of Villa Altagracia, where a police patrol killed a couple of evangelical pastors in 2021, and the death of the young Darlin Mercado Reyes in Herrera, events that generated demands for greater control over the actions of police officers.
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The former police director also questioned the changes related to the pension scheme for members of the institution, considering that the police career has special characteristics due to the level of risk and sacrifice it entails.
Guzmán Fermín stated that a police officer cannot be treated the same as any other public servant due to the conditions of their work. “A police officer has a permanently high-risk career, has to give up time with their family, works weekends, Holy Week, Christmas, and in emergency situations,” he maintained.
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He warned that modifying retirement conditions could generate uncertainty within police ranks and lead to a significant exodus of officers. “If that is implemented, there will be a stampede of police resignations and discharges,” he asserted.
Likewise, he criticized the origin of the reform process and recalled that the commission created to promote the changes emerged after the Villa Altagracia case. He stated that the process “started off wrong” because, as he said, among its members “there was not a single police officer, nor a retiree, nor a security guard.”
Guzmán Fermín maintained that any transformation of the National Police must take into account the experience of its members and strengthen the institution from its human resources, while insisting that the country needs a preventive security policy with clear objectives and a defined strategic direction.
