Deadly force: Venezuela's police have become a law unto themselves

[Bacchus39]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/sep/06/venezuela-police-law-themselves

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This human rights training workshop is part of a new effort by the authorities to rein in trigger-happy officers who gun down an estimated 900 people every year, the vast majority poor young men.

Venezuela has about 65,000 police and National Guard members. The 8,600-strong metropolitan force in Caracas has a reputation for being one of the most trigger-happy.

Jhonny Campos, commissioner of the Caracas metropolitan police, admits his force needs urgent reform. "The police have very little training in human rights. Some guys think, I'm the law, I have the power, I can do what I want. And because people don't denounce the killings, the culture of impunity grows."

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In Venezuela, police violence – and corruption – has reached extremes. Recently, the justice minister, Tarek El-Aissami, said 20% of all crime was committed by police, a startling admission. The public have little confidence in the force. In one poll, 70% said "police and criminals are practically the same". There are daily killings. Between January 2008 and March 2009, police were implicated in 755 "homicide cases". With some cases including multiple killings, the number of dead is likely to be significantly higher. In the first three months of 2009, there were 155 cases.