Voices were heard from all sides in support of the Colombian National Police. A series of assassinations of institution members at the hands of criminal gangs seeking to show strength in the face of a final negotiation with Gustavo Petro’s new government.
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So far this year, 62 soldiers, 36 of them on duty, have been martyred. And as TIME explains, The ‘Gulf clan’ has forged alliances with other criminal gangs and even former FARC and ELN opponents to implement the so-called ‘gun plot’ that has already left dozens of widows and orphans.
In addition to this criminal plot, which imitates the repression methods of narco-terrorist Pablo Escobar, there is another issue discussed in the ranks: the mass withdrawal of uniformed officers of different ranks.
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The version was moved at two crucial moments. It was first used by organizations and vandals to attack and kill police officers in the midst of protests.
“A few men in uniform announced their retirement when they were ordered to take to the streets unarmed,” he said. EL TIEMPO is an official from Esmad. Second, the issue is being re-discussed in the face of the changes the new government is considering and which will seek to seek more plainclothes police force.
EL TIEMPO has researched and obtained new figures and official and unofficial answers on withdrawals recorded in recent months.
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The first answer is Of the 167,290 members of the police, 9,822 have withdrawn of their own accord so far between 2021 and 2022.
Approximately 127 of these personnel were lieutenant colonels and 8,476 chief quartermasters, quartermasters and patrol officers. The first number, lieutenant colonels, is noteworthy as there are 421 uniformed officers of this rank in the institution.
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When asked about the reasons for voluntary withdrawals, they reported that the majority of them resorted to a legal mechanism: The sentence of the Council of State, dated September 2018, that annulled Article 2 of the Decree Law No. 1858 dated 2012.
The decree set the retirement period as 25 years. And the decision opened the door for 36,688 officers to request 20-year suspensions.
“It was the first breakup. Some officers and non-commissioned officers began retiring at age 38 when they had accumulated the best experience.”, said one general, who requested anonymity.
And I add: “They go out as escorts or work abroad because they don’t retain them by improving their salaries and conditions. A trained uniformed officer is placed under surveillance or transferred as a wake-up call. Here there is an ordinary policeman and an elite who are intelligence; They are doing better,” he said.
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From the uniformed officers covered by the sentence to date, 23,399 requests for withdrawal.
But not all of those who left are protected by the verdict. Of the 9,822 voluntary withdrawals made throughout 2021 and so far in 2022, 3,623 have not benefited from the penalty.
Members of the institution, in addition to salaries, Uncertainty about the future of the police added to the exit factors.
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Others say they are left alone in criminal cases initiated by NGOs and other organisations: “They have to pay their salary for the defense.”
And if you want to make changes to an institution, Like the police, the key to democracy begins by reviewing salaries.
An agent with 10 years of experience earns an average of 1,360 000 pesos; one researcher, 1,825,000; a sergeant major, 2,354,000 pesos, and a lieutenant colonel, 3,786,944 pesos.
(See all articles from EL TIEMPO Investigation Unit here)
Currently in uniform It contains the sentence “13,278 people who can make the decision to retire at any time stay on active duty”..
RESEARCH UNIT
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Source: Exame
