translated from Spanish: Mayors without resources to deal with the crime: AChM accused the Government cut budget for safety citizen

The President of the Chilean Association of municipalities (AAHM) and Mayor of the commune of La Granja, Felipe Delpin, along with the Vice-President of the Committee of public safety, his pair of independent ncia Gonzalo Durán, warned about the serious decline in resources of public safety that will prevent that municipalities can give continuity to the local strategies and prevention plans to combat crime in the neighborhoods. For this reason, already confirmed a meeting with the Minister of the Interior, Andrés Chadwick.
According to the study ‘Analysis of the crimes in the country and the resources to the municipalities’, which the Mayor presented last week to the public security Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, it was detected that from 2016 there has been a decrease in sustained resources for these materials. In this way, the moneys currently engaged in public safety equals only 0.07% of the entire national budget.
Since the AChM, they ensure that the budget of the Secretariat of the crime prevention between 2016 and 2018 declined by more than 22 billion pesos, i.e. 40, 51%. In 2019 will be the budget earmarked for this area only 35 million 784 thousand pesos, a slight increase of almost 3 billion that must be distributed among the country’s 345 municipalities.
The mayors also remind law 20.965 incorporated a new municipal management tool called “Community Safety Plan public” (PCSP). However, warn to 2019 there will be resources to the communal Plan of public security which in 2018 was M$ 5.418.733 and 2016 m $26.491.375.
“There is a public discourse in which priority is given to safety and is committed to reducing crime, however, the Government in practice, what it does is diminish the resources for public security”, criticized Delpin.
The study reveals that while for both police budget comes to 45% of the resources of security and justice, on the other hand, the programmes of rehabilitation and reintegration in gendarmerie represent only 1.3% of the moneys. Add to this that the Undersecretary of prevention on crime will have a budget of only 1.2% of the total of the resources allocated for these two areas for 2019.
“The municipalities of Chile are giving face to respond to the population, while the Government deposits only in police resources, ignoring the valuable work carried out the country’s 345 municipalities. It can not be that the Undersecretary of crime prevention resources are barely 3% of which is earmarked for police”, said the communal Chief of La Granja.
“There is no clarity what resources will have the municipalities to carry out programs that designates the law.” The vast majority of the municipalities do not have resources to undertake such a task. “Could thus be deprived communities who have made successful prevention projects of a necessary instrument for its continuity, and those who have intended to do so in the future, do not count with such resources”, said.
Therefore, according to the President of the AChM, it is the first time since 2000 that the communes will be forced to interrupt their preventive programmes due to lack of resources.
“Since the year 2000, successive Governments have had a clear policy on this issue: Plan community safe (2000-2010), Plan Barrio in peace (2010-2014), public safety (2014-2018), communal plans with their different variations, have been programs that have” contributed, without a doubt, that municipalities and communities have the tools to prevent criminal behaviour”, said the authority.
Meanwhile the Mayor of independence, Gonzalo Durán, emphasized that the vast majority of communes of the country depend on these resources to combat crime. “Without these resources there is no financial ability to run these programs with their own resources. There are total dependence of resources which are delivered from central level. Worse still, this decline in resources not only affect the generation of new plans and prevention programmes, but that they endanger the execution of programs that are already underway”, said Duran.
Municipalities in alert according to the CEP survey of 2017, crime became one of the main priorities of citizenship. These figures are complemented with the statistics provided by the Ministry of the Interior, which reveal that the insecurity continues to grow in population.
In fact, 4 out of every 5 people, i.e. 81%, believe that crime has increased and the complaint, which is a reflection of confidence in the system, has declined by 38.5%. This is complemented by the latest figures delivered by Paz Ciudadana, where it was established that the theft in homes increased by 39.5% in 2017.
AAHM AAHM proposal proposals should be to focus scarce resources considered in the national safety net in the communes of more than 60 thousand inhabitants, which concentrates more than 80% of the crimes and 73% of the national population (gloss).
They also propose compromise to make effective the year a supplementary budget for this programme line, of a similar or superior to the initial amount.
Finally, to focus the resources of the National Public Security Fund (M$ 3.414.954) in communities of less than 60 thousand inhabitants and in strengthening of the communal councils of public security initiatives.

Original source in Spanish