HomeNewsBriefInvestigations, Delays in Ecuador Police Reform
BRIEF

Investigations, Delays in Ecuador Police Reform

ECUADOR / 4 NOV 2013 BY NATALIE SOUTHWICK EN

More than 400 Ecuadorean police officers have been detained for suspected criminal activity, as attempts to reform chronically corrupt law enforcement continue across the region, with very mixed results.

As part of an initiative to combat corruption and cleanse the national police force, Ecuadorean authorities have investigated 400 officers who failed various tests in 2013, reported El Comercio.

Government officials also announced that, beginning this month, officers will undergo a wide range of evaluations, including toxicology exams, polygraph tests, psychological evaluations and analysis of their financial records. However, between 5,000 and 7,000 officers have still not submitted their paperwork, which is due by December, reported El Comercio.

The evaluations are the second phase of a planned initiative to purge the police force. The first phase led to the dismissal of 203 officers in June for crimes including robbery, extortion and drug consumption, reported Hoy.

InSight Crime Analysis

Police reform is on the rise across Latin America, where nearly all police forces deal with endemic corruption among their ranks. Many countries have introduced measures aimed at purging corrupt officers from the force, or have attempted to strengthen law enforcement by incorporating military personnel temporarily into law and order posts.

SEE ALSO: Coverage of Police Reform

The initiatives have had mixed results. In Venezuela, significant positive steps have been made as part of a long-running process, such as increased salaries and the creation of a new police university. Police in Colombia identified corrupt colleagues through an undercover program earlier this year and thousands more are being investigated.

However, reform efforts in Honduras that include similar tactics to those underway in Ecuador have stalled, leading the government to bring in the military for support. And Mexico's highly publicized reform efforts have hit significant roadblocks.

Meanwhile, the news that Mexican police officers involved in an Acapulco kidnapping ring had passed confidence tests illustrates the failings of investigative processes meant to identify corrupt officers. 

Analysts have also criticized moves to militarize law enforcement in Latin America for failing to produce effective results, as well as leading to increased human rights abuses.

Ecuador's police force, with about 42,000 officers, has a bad reputation among citizens, exacerbated by revolts, human rights abuses and widespread corruption. The government has introduced anti-corruption and reform initiatives, including offering citizenship to immigrants who report police corruption and expanding the military's role in law enforcement

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

BOLIVIA / 8 NOV 2022

Environmental crime is driving deforestation across the Amazon, where some parts are now emitting more carbon dioxide than they absorb.

ECUADOR / 27 OCT 2022

Fishing vessels are harvesting smaller marine species in Ecuador as the demand for fishmeal is drawing the attention of illegal…

ELITES AND CRIME / 31 JAN 2023

Haiti's security crisis is about to see another major evolution as gangs look to become the de facto authority in…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Contributes Expertise Across the Board 

22 SEP 2023

This week InSight Crime investigators Sara García and María Fernanda Ramírez led a discussion of the challenges posed by Colombian President Gustavo Petro’s “Total Peace” plan within urban contexts. The…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in New Colombia Drug Policy Plan

15 SEP 2023

InSight Crime’s work on emerging coca cultivation in Honduras, Guatemala, and Venezuela was cited in the Colombian government’s…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Discusses Honduran Women's Prison Investigation

8 SEP 2023

Investigators Victoria Dittmar and María Fernanda Ramírez discussed InSight Crime’s recent investigation of a massacre in Honduras’ only women’s prison in a Twitter Spaces event on…

THE ORGANIZATION

Human Trafficking Investigation Published in Leading Mexican Newspaper

1 SEP 2023

Leading Mexican media outlet El Universal featured our most recent investigation, “The Geography of Human Trafficking on the US-Mexico Border,” on the front page of its August 30…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Coverage of Ecuador Leads International Debate

25 AUG 2023

This week, Jeremy McDermott, co-director of InSight Crime, was interviewed by La Sexta, a Spanish television channel, about the situation of extreme violence and insecurity in Ecuador…