We invite you to read the opinion column by our partner Loreto Hoyos, who analyzes the importance of complementing the new public safety measures to ensure their effective implementation.
The government’s announcement of a public safety plan comprising 65 measures is a significant step in addressing one of the public’s main concerns. The magnitude of the challenge posed by organized crime demands comprehensive, coordinated, and sustained responses. However, just as important as the design of these measures is the question of whether the state has the necessary material conditions to make them effective.
This point is particularly evident when it comes to the prison system. The creation of high-security units, the segregation of highly dangerous inmates, and the strengthening of control over incarcerated members of criminal organizations are widely shared objectives. However, these measures will struggle to fulfill their purpose if prisons continue to operate under current conditions of overcrowding and overcapacity.
The reality of Chile’s prison system shows that, in many facilities, there simply is not enough physical space to adequately separate inmates based on their level of danger or membership in criminal organizations. In practice, the lack of infrastructure forces the mixing of prison populations that should remain completely isolated from one another, undermining any control strategy.
Added to this is an equally significant problem: the operational limitations faced by the Prison Service. Staff carry out their duties under notoriously complex conditions, with limited resources and objective difficulties in exercising effective control over what occurs inside prison facilities. As long as these conditions persist, it is difficult to imagine that criminal organizations will lose their ability to coordinate activities from within prisons.
For this reason, prison reforms cannot be limited to legal or administrative changes. They must be accompanied by concrete investments in infrastructure, technology, staffing, and modern surveillance systems. Otherwise, there is a risk that measures which, on paper, appear robust will ultimately prove very difficult to implement in reality.
A second aspect that deserves special attention relates to the police. In recent years, and particularly following the social unrest, the country has experienced an intense debate over the use of force, the accountability of police officers, and institutional oversight mechanisms. This context cannot be ignored when designing a security policy.
Instead of focusing the discussion on expanding exemptions from liability, relaxing standards of criminal liability, or establishing procedural benefits for police officers, the emphasis should be on strengthening their professional, operational, and training capabilities. The security crisis demands better-prepared police officers, not less oversight.
Initial training and periodic refresher courses must occupy a central place within any serious public security strategy. The fight against organized crime requires highly specialized officers with ongoing training in investigative techniques, crisis management, police intelligence, fundamental rights, and the proportional use of force. Such preparation is the best tool for simultaneously protecting the safety of citizens, the integrity of the officers themselves, and the legitimacy of institutions.
At the end of the day, no security strategy will be successful if material conditions make its implementation impossible or difficult. The effectiveness of public policy in this area depends not only on appropriate security guidelines but also on the State’s actual capacity to put them into practice.
Column written by:
Loreto Hoyos | Partner | lhoyos@az.cl
