Santa Cruz to Establish Citizen Security Council Amidst Crime Wave

Santa Cruz is set to activate its Citizen Security Council on August 19, a move aimed at combating a recent surge in robberies and murders, particularly near the Brazilian border. The council will be headed by Governor Juan Pablo Velasco and will convene all institutions responsible for public safety within the department.

The initiative is part of the broader Citizen Security Law and seeks to coordinate efforts across various governmental levels. The Governor's office announced that invitations will be extended to the central government, specifically the Ministry of Government, the Ministry of Defense, and the fire department. This collaborative platform is intended to be the venue for making key decisions and shaping public security policies for the Santa Cruz department.

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Then, our priority is to stop this criminal wave and then adopt other policies and, above all, strategies to dismantle criminal groups that operate from the highest levels of criminality to the lowest.

Jorge Santistevan, the Secretary of Citizen Security, stated that the council's immediate objective is to approve a concrete plan to effectively confront the current wave of crime. The strategy will focus on dismantling and disrupting criminal organizations, from their highest levels down to the lowest. He emphasized that the meeting is not merely for ceremonial purposes but aims to define actionable strategies.

Rolando Schrupp, spokesperson for the Governor's office, reinforced that the departmental security councils are designed for coordination and identifying needs. The process involves assessing which institutions have the logistical and material capacity to support citizen security tasks and which face significant difficulties. This diagnostic approach, Santistevan explained, will allow for targeted solutions to be implemented, ensuring that the strategies are practical and effective in addressing the security challenges facing the department.

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The sense of these departmental citizen security councils is to coordinate and see the needs, attending to the security requirements that exist throughout the department.