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Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Havana Police and People with Money

Havana Police and People with Money
April 13, 2012
Yenisel Rodriguez Perez

HAVANA TIMES April 13 — All of us had great expectations when we got the
news that the recruitment of Havana police officers would start being
done from here in the capital itself. When I say expectations, I mean
that people thought there would be changes in the broadest sense of the
word.

I don't think anyone believed there would be improved treatment of the
public or a significant reduction in corruption, but they still figured
that this measure would have to bring some kind of change in policing
here in the capital.

The objective of governmental decision-makers was to ensure that the
body of officers in Havana was made up of more than 50 percent native
Habaneros. The basic reason for this was the urgent need for greater
efficiency in policing the capital's population.

Officers recruited to the Havana Police Department from other provinces
had ended up creating more problems than solutions. Therefore, this
change in policy meant that the time had come for young Havana residents
to have a crack at showing their stuff.

Back then I wrote a blog entry that discussed the situation. In that
piece, I took a shot at making some long-term predictions concerning
possible changes.

With some years having passed, I'm still surprised to discover that my
forecasts have yet to be realized in a convincing manner. Nonetheless,
I'm noticing some other effects that I failed to anticipate at that time.

One of them has to do with the differential treatment that some of the
native police officers give to those in the capital who are better off,
meaning individuals and families whose incomes are above the national
average.

This is simply a personal "opinion" based on my experiences as a
passerby and on the feelings of some friends.

On visits to the neighborhood where I grew up, I've stumbled onto Havana
beat cops and illegal taxi drivers "side by side" (meaning drinking,
smoking and rocking to the beat of the drivers' sound systems).

Personally I don't see much problem with this, but I don't want to get
into judgments in this blog entry.

In any case — continuing the story — I've witnessed the police allowing
the circulation of those unlicensed taxis within controlled areas that
they control on certain nights.

Although corrupt relationships can't be ruled out, I think there are
also some other unexplained reasons that had nothing to do with moneymaking.

In this specific case that I'm raising, I should note than the police on
duty had been high school classmates with some of these taxi drivers.

What was also significant was that they were all getting together that
night — police and taxi drivers — and professing their Eurocentric
tastes. They all loved soccer and electro music, and they all hated
baseball (the national sport) and traditional Cuban music.

Those affinities pushed the social roles of controllers and the
controlled to one side. This was an unknown and unprecedented situation
for me. I don't know how my fellow citizens feel about it.

In short, it's a very complex case for such little space. I can only
hope that it serves as an anecdote.

http://www.havanatimes.org/?p=67255

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