Security Secretary Sergio Berni (photo: Víctor Santamaría)
Security Secretary Sergio Berni has ordered the withdrawal of 5,000 Federal Police officers from neighbourhoods in the City of Buenos Aires where the Metropolitan Police are already operating.
The date of the withdrawal is yet to be announced. The affected neighbourhoods will be Saavedra, Coghlan, Villa Urquiza, Villa Pueyrredón (Comuna 12), Nueva Pompeya, Parque Patricios, Barracas, La Boca (Comuna 4), Agronomía, Chacarita, Villa Crespo, Paternal, and Villa Ortúzar (Comuna 15).
“We’re not withdrawing [the Federal Police], the correct term is to transfer the responsibility for public safety in the jurisdictions where the Metropolitan Police are working, and to redistribute the agents to other precincts within the city,” said Berni. He also stated that he has been working on this issue with the city government for over a year and that they do not intend to carry out the transfer “overnight”.
Spokesmen for the city government, however, have rejected the measure, saying that “the decision by the national government does not affect the Metropolitan Police. It only affects the residents of the City of Buenos Aires.”
Sources from the Metropolitan Police, in turn, explained that they have officers in the three comunas to “collaborate with federal forces”, but that they do not have enough agents or cars to replace the Federal Police.
“At the moment, we are a force of 4,800 agents. But we don’t just work in the comunas 4, 12, and 15. Part of the officers are in charge of policing all the subte lines, some of them work in the Metrobus, and others are on duty at Parque Centenario and Villa 31, in Retiro,” a Metropolitan Police chief told newspaper La Nación.
According to information from the Security Ministry, there are 9,000 Federal Police officers working in the City of Buenos Aires, distributed in 53 precincts. The Federal Police will continue to work in the affected comunas to investigate federal crimes, such as drug trafficking, people trafficking, and kidnappings.
“If the Metropolitan Police needs help to handle ordinary crimes, we’ll be there to help them, as always,” said a Security Ministry source.
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