Emphasis on local security begins with the barrio
The security ministry is continuing to develop its anticrime program from the bottom up.
Fuerza Pública officials call it barrios organizados or seguridad comunitario. Saturday about 500 men and women graduated from the program in Desamparados.
The program is something short of a local patrol. The organized communities number nearly 2,000 all over the country, and they can best be equated to a neighborhood watch, alert neighbors who make telephone calls if something is amiss.
The program has been going on for years, and areas that have taken the training are marked by yellow signs at their borders. There are no clear statistics on how effective the program is, but the training at least raises the consciousness of residents to possible crimes. Those who undergo the training attend 12 sessions given by Fuerza Pública officials. Each session is two hours, and they are given in the local communities.
Some 28 communities in Desamparados were represented in the ceremony Saturday at which signs were handed out. Even some of the very poor sections, such as Los Guidos, were represented.
