HomeNewsBriefOverhaul of Argentina Security Policy Leaves Unanswered Questions
BRIEF

Overhaul of Argentina Security Policy Leaves Unanswered Questions

ARGENTINA / 4 APR 2017 BY DAVID GAGNE EN

Authorities in Argentina are reshaping security policies by putting more emphasis on information sharing and data-driven policing, an approach that could pay major dividends, although there are questions about how it will be implemented. 

Argentina's Security Ministry plans to restructure the federal security forces in order to better equip them with the tools required to combat organized crime activities such as trafficking of drugs, persons and arms as well as terrorism, reported Infobae.

The strategy seeks to establish greater information sharing among the federal forces so that they can identify criminal patterns before they develop. 

Along those same lines, authorities are planning to open more lines of communication between the security and intelligence agencies. They are also creating a new agency that will coordinate state responses to cyber crime. 

Meanwhile, police in the capital city of Buenos Aires are looking to compile data about suspects onto a single platform so that all the information is at the officers' fingertips when they arrive at a crime scene, reported the Financial Times. They also plan to use data to predict where crimes are most likely to occur. 

"We can be ahead of what could happen," said Martín Ocampo, the minister of justice and security in Buenos Aires. "With predictive analytics, we want to make it so hard to commit a crime in the city that criminals will not do it."

InSight Crime Analysis

Understanding how criminal groups operate and coordinate activities with other networks is a central component to combating organized crime, so on the surface the government's plan appears promising. But given the lack of concrete details about how the authorities plan to facilitate interagency cooperation, this may not amount to much more than a reshuffling of the bureaucratic deck. It is telling that the government announced almost a year ago a similar campaign to generate greater intelligence in order to better investigate and dismantle organized crime groups. 

SEE ALSO: Coverage of Argentina

Other sweeping changes to Argentina's security policy have failed to live up to their expectations. For example, President Mauricio Macri authorized the armed forces to shoot down suspected drug plans in January 2016, but last November officials said 40 such planes coming from Bolivia land in Argentina every day. 

The plan to integrate more data into policing in Buenos Aires, while still in the conceptual stage, is more likely to have a tangible impact on security. Police forces in countries across Latin America have been experimenting for years with technology and mapping data to determine where and when crimes are most often committed. These examples provide a wealth of information for the program's designers in Buenos Aires to draw upon. 

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

CARIBBEAN / 8 DEC 2022

A broad state of emergency announced across Jamaica in order to rein in rising violence has met with scorn.

ARGENTINA / 30 SEP 2022

The capture of a young member of the Cantero family, leaders of the Monos, underlines their persistence in Argentina.

FENTANYL / 6 APR 2023

Over the last eight months, US officials have seized more illicit fentanyl at Arizona’s ports of entry than anywhere else…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Receives Great Reception

27 MAY 2023

Several of InSight Crime’s most recent articles about Venezuela have been well received by regional media. Our article on Venezuela’s colectivos expanding beyond their political role to control access to…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report Continues

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Paraguay Election Coverage Draws Attention 

5 MAY 2023

InSight Crime looked at the various anti-organized crime policies proposed by the candidates in Paraguay’s presidential election, which was won on April 30 by Santiago Peña. Our pre-election coverage was cited…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in OAS, CARICOM Reports

28 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s work was cited nine times in a new report by the Organization of American States (OAS) titled “The Impact of Organized Crime on Women,…