Law enforcement in Cuba is the responsibility of the National Revolutionary Police Force ( es, Policía Nacional Revolucionaria, PNR) under the administration of the

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...

. Article 65 of the

Cuban Constitution Even before attaining its independence from Spain, Cuba had several constitutions either proposed or adopted by insurgents as governing documents for territory they controlled during their war against Spain. Cuba has had several constitutions si ...

states that "Defense of the

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

motherland A homeland is a place where a cultural, national, or racial identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethni ...

is every Cuban's greatest honor and highest duty." Conscription into either the armed forces or the national police force is compulsory for those over the age of 16. Nevertheless, conscripts have no choice to which service they are assigned. Crime rates in Cuba remain significantly lower than many other major nations worldwide, with Cuban police acting strongly against any crime, particularly in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 20 ...

commented in 1998 that "The war against crime is also a war against the

imperialist Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power ( economic and ...

enemy." Information on

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the ...

and

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...

crime statistics Crime statistics refer to systematic, quantitative results about crime, as opposed to crime news or anecdotes. Notably, crime statistics can be the result of two rather different processes: * scientific research, such as criminological studies, vi ...

for the country have never been released by the government, however theft was estimated to be 6,531 cases in 1988, or 62 per 100,000 population.

Prisons

The Cuban penal system contained 19,000 inmates in 1990, approximately 190 per 100,000. A major problem found within all of the different sources found about the Cuban jails is the sanitary part of the jails. It is difficult for the jails to keep things sanitary because running water in Cuba is limited. This makes the number of toilets and showers further restricted. The prisoners are given a towel, two bars of soap, and a tube of toothpaste that they must make last until the month is over in which they will then get a new set of everything to use. List of known prisons in Cuba: * Combinado del Este Men's Prison * Western Prison for Women * Canaleta prison *

Villa Marista Villa Marista is a prison in Havana, Cuba, notorious for its detention of political prisoners by the Cuban national security agency. Its prisoners have included dissident Vladimiro Roca and politician Jesús Escandell. Villa Marista school Villa ...

Administration of the PNR

As with many countries, the PNR is under the control of the

, which in turn reports to the

Council of State A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...

. The Ministry of the Interior is divided into three divisions: Security, Technical Operations, and Internal Order and Crime Prevention. The latter is further divided into corrections, fire protection, and policing. The PNR reports to this subdirectorate, and is responsible for uniform policing,

criminal investigation Criminal investigation is an applied science that involves the study of facts that are then used to inform criminal trials. A complete criminal investigation can include searching, interviews, interrogations, evidence collection and preservat ...

crime prevention Crime prevention is the attempt to reduce and deter crime and criminals. It is applied specifically to efforts made by governments to reduce crime, enforce the law, and maintain criminal justice. Studies Criminologists, commissions, and researc ...

juvenile delinquency Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is the act of participating in unlawful behavior as a minor or individual younger than the statutory age of majority. In the United States of America, a juvenile delinquent is a perso ...

, and

traffic control Traffic management is a key branch within logistics. It concerns the planning control and purchasing of transport services needed to physically move vehicles (for example aircraft, road vehicles, rolling stock and watercraft) and freight. Traffi ...

. The PNR conducts these activities across the 14

provinces of Cuba Administratively, Cuba is divided into 15 provinces and one special municipality (the Isla de la Juventud). The last modification was approved in August 2010 (by the Cuban National Assembly), splitting Havana province into two new provinces: Ar ...

, each of which has its own

police chief The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and t ...

who reports to a central PNR command in Havana. While the Internal Order and Crime Prevention controls the PNR, which is responsible for day-to-day policing, the Security division of the Ministry of the Interior is responsible for crimes such as

espionage Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering is the act of obtaining secret or confidential information ( intelligence) from non-disclosed sources or divulging of the same without the permission of the holder of the information for a tang ...

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...

and offenses against state security. All these divisions of the Ministry of the Interior and the PNR have been closely associated with the Revolutionary Armed Forces since 1959, thus the model those used by the

Police of Russia The Police of Russia () is the national law-enforcement agency in Russia, operating under the Ministry of Internal Affairs from . It was established by decree from Peter the Great and in 2011, replacing the Militsiya, the former police service ...

with military ranks. In addition, the PNR is supported by the

Committees for the Defense of the Revolution Committees for the Defense of the Revolution ( es, Comités de Defensa de la Revolución, links=no), or CDR, are a network of neighborhood committees across Cuba. The organizations, described as the "eyes and ears of the Revolution," exist to h ...

(CDR), a police intelligence

auxiliary police Auxiliary police, also called special police, are usually the part-time reserves of a regular police force. They may be armed or unarmed. They may be unpaid volunteers or paid members of the police service with which they are affiliated. The po ...

organization using ''la guardia'', a nightly

neighborhood watch A neighborhood watch or neighbourhood watch (see spelling differences), also called a crime watch or neighbourhood crime watch, is an organized group of civilians devoted to crime and vandalism prevention within a neighborhood. The aim of nei ...

. The CDR also handle issues relating to

water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as ...

and

energy conservation Energy conservation is the effort to reduce wasteful energy consumption by using fewer energy services. This can be done by using energy more effectively (using less energy for continuous service) or changing one's behavior to use less service (f ...

, pet inoculation, and

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

Equipment

The PNR have a wide range of

police car A police car (also called a police cruiser, police interceptor, patrol car, area car, cop car, prowl car, squad car, radio car, or radio motor patrol) is a ground vehicle used by police and law enforcement for transportation during patrols a ...

actually the standard is the

Lada 2107 In contemporary history, the third millennium of the anno Domini or Common Era in the Gregorian calendar is the current millennium spanning the years 2001 to 3000 ( 21st to 30th centuries). Ongoing futures studies seek to understand what is l ...

and the Chinese made

Geely CK The Geely CK is a 4-door, 5-seater subcompact sedan produced by the Chinese manufacturer Geely from May 2005 to January 2016. The CK's Chinese name, ''Ziyoujian'', stands for "Freedom Ship" or "Free Cruiser". It was sold as the Geely Otaka on the ...

( this last also used for high rank personnel),this was subsequently released for replacement of

Peugeot 106 The Peugeot 106 is a supermini produced by French automaker Peugeot between 1991 and 2003. Launched in September 1991, it was Peugeot's entry level offering throughout its production life, and was initially sold only as a three door hatchback, w ...

in 2003,

Lada Vesta The Lada Vesta is a subcompact car produced by the Russian car company AvtoVAZ since 2015. It was presented in August 2014 during the Moscow International Automobile Salon and went into mass production on 25 September 2015 in Izhevsk. Bo Ander ...

or even Hyundai Accent ,all those are trespassed from rental car when it reached certain use,and rental agencies get new ones.particularly in the major cities, but also patrol on foot. They utilize radio communications, as well as a developmental computer dispatching system. PNR officers are armed with a semi-automatic handgun (usually it is a

Makarov PM The Makarov pistol or PM ( rus, Пистоле́т Мака́рова, r=Pistolét Makárova, p=pʲɪstɐˈlʲet mɐˈkarəvə, t=Makarov's Pistol) is a Soviet semi-automatic pistol. Under the project leadership of Nikolay Fyodorovich Makarov, it ...

),but some other personal use also the Czech made

CZ-75 The CZ 75 is a semi-automatic pistol made by Czech firearm manufacturer ČZUB. First introduced in 1975, it is one of the original " wonder nines" and features a staggered-column magazine, all-steel construction, and a hammer forged barrel. I ...

and a

baton Baton may refer to: Stick-like objects *Baton, a type of Club (weapon), club *Baton (law enforcement) *Baston (weapon), a type of baton used in Arnis and Filipino Martial Arts *Baton charge, a coordinated tactic for dispersing crowds of people *B ...

, and they "may use necessary force to apprehend suspects and to defend their person or that of any other citizen" and a warrant is a serious requirement under

Cuban law The substantive and procedural laws of Cuba were later based on the Spanish Civil laws and were influenced by the principles of Marxism-Leninism after that philosophy became the guiding force of government. The most recent Constitution of Cub ...

U.S. sanctions

On 30 July 2021, the PNR (as an entity), its Director, Oscar Callejas Valcarce (Callejas) and Deputy Director, Eddy Sierra Arias (Sierra) were added by the

U.S. Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and ...

to its

Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is a financial intelligence and enforcement agency of the U.S. Treasury Department. It administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions in support of U.S. national security and foreign policy ob ...

list for the "violent repression of protestors in Cuba" during the July 2021 protests.

Notes

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