Top official defends use of troops to fight street crimes

Santo Domingo.- Interior and Police minister Jose Ramon Fadul yesterday said he disagrees with National District prosecutor Yeni Berenice Reynoso, who yesterday stated her disappointment with the use of troops in joint patrols with police as part of the government’s Safety Plan.

He said the results of the national security policy take a long time, because it’s also about protecting citizens from criminals. "I respect her opinion but we feel that as part of the security policy we attack and are attacking crime from two points: police reform, and crime’s underlying causes such as drug trafficking, the lack of jobs.”

“It’s a long process because we cannot tell society that we will solve the problem overnight after withstanding it for years," the official said.

The official added that government is aware that there should be an elite force in the streets and that’s why they’ll first train the military assigned to patrols, since they "aren’t prepared to deal with the citizenship."