Buenos Aires - 2008 Summer Olympics torch relay - 20080411-8

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

the most important law enforcement organization is the

Argentine Federal Police The Argentine Federal Police ( es, Policía Federal Argentina or PFA) is the national civil police force of the Argentine federal government. The PFA has detachments throughout the country. Until January 1, 2017, it also acted as the local la ...

with jurisdiction in all Argentine territory. Most routine police work is carried out by provincial/state police forces. In recent years several cities (such as Saldan and Villa Allende), started their own local police forces to reduce the burden on the State Police. The

capital city A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, Department (country subdivision), department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city ...

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

(a federal district), where the Argentine Federal Police works with

Argentine Naval Prefecture The Argentine Naval Prefecture ( es, Prefectura Naval Argentina or PNA) is a service of Argentina's Security Ministry charged with protecting the country's rivers and maritime territory. It therefore fulfills the functions of other countries' coa ...

(

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

) and Buenos Aires City Police (

Municipal police Municipal police, city police, or local police are law enforcement agencies that are under the control of local government. This includes the municipal government, where it is the smallest administrative subdivision. They receive funding ...

Federal agencies

Argentine National Gendarmerie The Argentine National Gendarmerie ( es, Gendarmería Nacional Argentina, GNA) is the national gendarmerie force and corps of border guards of the Argentine Republic. It has a strength of 70,000. The gendarmerie is primarily a frontier guard forc ...

* Airport Security Police *

Federal Penitentiary Service The Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN, Russian: Федеральная служба исполнения наказаний (ФСИН), ''Federalnaya Sluzhba Ispolneniya Nakazaniy'') is a federal agency of the Ministry of Justice of Russia ...

Provincial Police Forces

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Buenos Aires Provincial Police The Buenos Aires Provincial Police (Spanish: ''Policía de la Provincia de Buenos Aires'', informally ''Policía Bonaerense'') is the police service responsible for policing the Province of Buenos Aires, in Argentina. It is one of the biggest po ...

Catamarca Provincial Police Catamarca may refer to: *San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca () is the capital and largest city in Catamarca Province in northwestern Argentina, on the Río Valle River, at the feet of the Cerro Ambato. The ...

* Chaco Provincial Police *

Chubut Provincial Police Chubut may refer to: * Chubut Province Chubut ( es, Provincia del Chubut, ; cy, Talaith Chubut) is a province in southern Argentina, situated between the 42nd parallel south (the border with Río Negro Province), the 46th parallel south (borderi ...

Córdoba Provincial Police The ''Policía de la Provincia de Córdoba'' (Córdoba Provincial Police; PPC) is an Argentina, Argentine police, police agency, responsible for policing the Córdoba Province (Argentina), Córdoba province.85 See also *Policía Federal Argentina ...

Corrientes Provincial Police Corrientes (; Guaraní: Taragüí, literally: "Currents") is the capital city of the province of Corrientes, Argentina, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, about from Buenos Aires and from Posadas, on National Route 12. It has ...

* Entre Ríos Provincial Police *

Formosa Provincial Police Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territorie ...

Jujuy Provincial Police San Salvador de Jujuy (), commonly known as Jujuy and locally often referred to as San Salvador, is the capital and largest city of Jujuy Province in northwest Argentina. Also, it is the seat of the Doctor Manuel Belgrano Department. It lies near ...

La Pampa Provincial Police LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...

La Rioja Provincial Police LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...

Mendoza Provincial Police Mendoza may refer to: Places Argentina * Greater Mendoza, the name given to the large urban conurbation around the city of Mendoza * Mendoza, Argentina, the capital of the province of Mendoza * Mendoza Department, subdivision of the Mendoza Provi ...

Misiones Provincial Police Misiones (, ''Missions'') is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil to the north, east and south, and Corrientes P ...

Neuquén Provincial Police Neuquén (; arn, Nehuenken) is the capital city of the Argentine province of Neuquén and of the Confluencia Department, located in the east of the province. It occupies a strip of land west of the confluence of the Limay and Neuquén rivers ...

Río Negro Provincial Police Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

* Salta Provincial Police * San Juan Provincial Police * San Luis Provincial Police * Santa Cruz Provincial Police *

Santa Fe Provincial Police The ''Policía de la Provincia de Santa Fe'' (Santa Fe Province Police, PPSF) is an Argentine police agency, responsible for policing the Santa Fe Province The Province of Santa Fe ( es, Provincia de Santa Fe, ) is a province of Argentina, lo ...

* Santiago del Estero Provincial Police *

Tierra del Fuego Provincial Police Tierra may refer to: Astronomy *Earth in the Spanish and Asturian language Computing and games * Tierra (computer simulation), a computer simulation of life by the ecologist Thomas S. Ray * Tierra Entertainment, now known as AGD Interactive, a ...

Tucumán Provincial Police The ''Policía de la Provincia de Tucumán'' (Tucumán Province Police; PPT) is an Argentina, Argentine police, police agency, responsible for policing the Tucumán Province, Tucumán province. See also *Policía Federal Argentina, Argentine Federa ...

Local Forces

* Buenos Aires City Police * Lomas de Zamora City Police * Villa Allende City Police * Saldan City Police *

Córdoba Municipal Police Córdoba most commonly refers to: * Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain * Córdoba, Argentina, 2nd largest city in the country and capital of Córdoba Province Córdoba or Cordoba may ...

Tactical Forces

* Hawk Special Operations Brigade * Special Operations Troops Company * Infantry Guard Corps * Escorpion Group * Albatross Group * Federal Special Operations Group * Special Group One

Intelligence agencies

* Intelligence Secretariat * Argentine Federal Police Intelligence * Argentine National Gendarmerie Intelligence * Argentine Naval Prefecture Intelligence * Airport Security Police Intelligence * Federal Penitentiary Service Intelligence *

Inteligencia de la Policía Bonaerense Inteligencia de la Policía Bonaerense (''Buenos Aires Police Intelligence'') is an internal intelligence agency of Argentina. It is the intelligence service An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis ...

Historical secret police organizations

* Sociedad Popular Restauradora ("Mazorca") * Sección Especial de Represión al Comunismo (SERC) (Special Section for the Repression of Communism) * División de Información Política Antidemocrática (DIPA) (Political Anti-democratic Information Division)

Corruption

Corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

is a pervasive and widespread practice among police agents in Argentina. It’s hard to know with precision the extent of corruption within Argentine law enforcement. Corruption is difficult to measure because most of it is never discovered and/or is not reported. However, there are some numbers that can indicate the extent of the problem in Argentina. In 2008, there were 120 investigations against police officers in relation to allegations of corruption and criminal involvement. In the

force alone, there were 13,619 police officers investigated for acts of corruption, violence, and/or irregularities between 2008 and 2009, according to the General Auditing Office of Internal Affairs.

Global Integrity Global Integrity is an independent, nonprofit organization tracking governance and corruption trends around the world using local teams of researchers and journalists to monitor openness and accountability. Global Integrity's reporting has been ci ...

ranks Argentine law enforcement as weak on anti-corruption performance with a score of 63 over 100. Likewise,

Transparency International Transparency International e.V. (TI) is a German registered association founded in 1993 by former employees of the World Bank. Based in Berlin, its nonprofit and non-governmental purpose is to take action to combat global corruption with civil ...

(TI)’s

Bribe Payers Index Bribe Payers Index (BPI) is a measure of how willing a nation's multinational corporations appear to engage in corrupt business practices. The first BPI was published by Transparency International on October 26, 1999 and the last one in 2011. The B ...

2008 gives the Argentine police a score of 3.9 on a 5-point scale, 1 being 'not at all corrupt' and 5 'extremely corrupt.' The most common form of corruption practiced in Argentina by police agents is the request of a bribe or the acceptance of a bribe offered by citizens who committed a traffic violation or any ordinary infringement of the law, in order to avoid legal penalties. According to Barómetro de las Américas done by the Latin American Public Opinion Project, in Argentina, 15% of the population has been asked for a bribe by a police agent. This finding is backed by the

Latinobarómetro Latinobarómetro Corporation is a private non-profit organization, based in Providencia, Chile. It is responsible for carrying out Latinobarómetro, an annual public opinion survey that involves some 20,000 interviews in 18 Latin American countrie ...

2008, which found that 59% of Argentines believe that it is possible to bribe a policeman in order to avoid a fine or arrest. There is also strong evidence that police agents act in connivance with criminals. In exchange for a percentage of the proceeds from criminal activities, police officers facilitate “freed zones” –where police officers do not go in- for thieves to be able to carry out robberies or kidnappings, or for drug dealers to be able to sell drugs. In other words, it is a common practice for criminals in Argentina to operate under protection of the police. In addition, law enforcement officers are known to be involved in organized criminal activities. According to

Freedom House Freedom House is a non-profit, majority U.S. government funded organization in Washington, D.C., that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights. Freedom House was founded in October 1941, and Wendell Wil ...

2010, Buenos Aires police has been involved in several incidents of

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...

and

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

. Police officers are also involved in

arms trafficking Arms trafficking or gunrunning is the illicit trade of contraband small arms and ammunition, which constitutes part of a broad range of illegal activities often associated with transnational criminal organizations. The illegal trade of small a ...

. Police arms depots or warehouses function as a source of weapons for the black market.

Dynamics

Police corruption Police corruption is a form of police misconduct in which law enforcement officers end up breaking their political contract and abuse their power for personal gain. This type of corruption may involve one or a group of officers. Internal police ...

in Argentina is due to several factors. In the first place, poor salaries are an incentive towards petty corruption within the police. Similarly, budget constraints affect the police's ability to carry out their mandate, decreasing morale and commitment towards their mission within the law enforcement institution. These factors reinforce an already existing and widespread tolerance for corruption, which fuels this illegal practice. Moreover, a high rate of impunity for police corruption fails to act as a deterrent against this practice. Criminal proceedings against police officers are generally avoided because of a lack of resources or the lack of will to investigate police corruption cases. Lastly, the Argentine law enforcement lacks mechanisms for transparency and

accountability Accountability, in terms of ethics and governance, is equated with answerability, blameworthiness, liability, and the expectation of account-giving. As in an aspect of governance, it has been central to discussions related to problems in the publ ...

, rendering the police force a very hard institution to control. The most deleterious effect of police corruption is the inefficacy of law enforcement to fight crime. According to an investigation by

La Nación ''La Nación'' () is an Argentine daily newspaper. As the country's leading conservative newspaper, ''La Nación''s main competitor is the more liberal '' Clarín''. It is regarded as a newspaper of record for Argentina. Its motto is: "''La Nac ...

, the police force in Argentina has only been able to capture 32% of the alleged perpetrators of the most heinous crimes committed between July and August 2010. This incompetence has a direct correlation to the growing levels of crime found in Argentina. At the same time, it causes police forces to be less trusted by its citizens. In fact, the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

’s

Global Competitiveness Report The ''Global Competitiveness Report'' (GCR) is a yearly report published by the World Economic Forum. Since 2004, the ''Global Competitiveness Report'' ranks countries based on the Global Competitiveness Index, developed by Xavier Sala-i-Martin an ...

2010-2011 indicates that the reliability of the Argentine police services to enforce law and order achieves a score of 3.0 on a 7-point scale, 1 being 'cannot be relied upon at all' and 7 'can always be relied upon.' Another serious consequence brought about by police corruption is its contribution to the deep weakening of the

rule of law The rule of law is the political philosophy that all citizens and institutions within a country, state, or community are accountable to the same laws, including lawmakers and leaders. The rule of law is defined in the ''Encyclopedia Britannica ...

in Argentina. If the police force fails to carry out its mission and loses the citizens’ trust and respect, its power of deterrence against illegal acts is lost, promoting the violation of laws by its own citizens, in addition to encouraging crime. In the end, this also drives citizens to stop reporting crimes because of their lack of trust and respect for law enforcement. For all these reasons, Argentines consider the police force to be one of the most corrupt institutions in the country. Most citizens in the country defend themselves from criminals acts with weapons like

pistols A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, ...

rather than informing the police about the criminal acts in the country.Bertelsmann Stiftung. (2009). BTI 2010 — Argentina Country Report. Gütersloh: Bertelsmann Stiftung. Retrieved from http://www.bertelsmann-transformation-index.de/fileadmin/pdf/Gutachten_BTI2010/LAC/Argentina.pdf With the recent creation of the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Police in 2009, an increasing number of city residences have opted to report crimes to the Metropolitan Police instead of the Federal Police due to its corruption problems.

References

{{Argentine government