HomeNewsBriefVenezuela Plans to Use Drones for Citizen Security
BRIEF

Venezuela Plans to Use Drones for Citizen Security

SECURITY POLICY / 22 OCT 2014 BY KYRA GURNEY EN

In an effort to improve citizen security, Venezuela plans to install radars that detect gunshots and drones equipped with video cameras, but the use of surveillance technology offers the potential for abuse. 

Venezuelan Interior Minister Miguel Rodriguez said that the cameras and radars would be integrated with the emergency services to allow police to respond more quickly, reported EFE. Regular video cameras would be used in highly populated areas, and drones would allow security forces to monitor areas that are difficult to access, reported NTN24. According to Rodriguez, the authorities will install 50,000 cameras by April 2015.

Rodriguez said that a smartphone app that allows users to contact the nearest police unit -- which Venezuela launched in September -- has already helped reduce crime.

Rodriguez also stated that the Venezuelan government had acquired equipment to block phone calls in prisons in an effort to curb extortion, which is often perpetrated by prisoners. 

InSight Crime Analysis

Venezuela's surveillance technology could be misused to serve the interests of the ruling party, including by monitoring the activities of opponents. Elsewhere in the region, there have been examples of both left-wing and right-wing governments spying on political opponents via phone tapping and other means.

Indeed, Venezuelan authorities used edited surveillance footage to support their claims that the death of a young politician from the ruling party was a political killing carried out by the right wing, discarding evidence that indicated that the crime may in fact have been robbery-related. 

SEE ALSO: Venezuela News and Profiles

However, video cameras and radars could work to deter individuals from committing crimes and provide the police with more information for investigations. Venezuela has one of the highest homicide rates in the world -- 73 per 100,000 in 2013 according to the Venezuelan Observatory of Violence, although the government claims the figure was 39 per 100,000 -- driven by high levels of impunity for perpetrators.

Drones are increasingly popular surveillance tools in Latin America, but the region has yet to create a legal framework guiding their use. Fourteen countries currently possess drones, which have been used for everything from monitoring agricultural activities to military intelligence operations. 

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

ELITES AND CRIME / 19 OCT 2021

Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro's aggressive reaction to the extradition of accused money launderer and ally Álex Saab – who appeared…

COCAINE / 21 DEC 2022

Venezuelan authorities claim to have destroyed 40 tons of drugs this year. But are they being fully transparent about their…

CARIBBEAN / 1 JUN 2021

With its homicide rates higher than ever in 2019 and 2020, Barbados is now confronting a difficult question: will it…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report continues to be a reference in the region

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,…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Staff Cited as Experts by International Media

21 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime deputy editor, Juan Diego Posada, was interviewed by the Associated Press about connections between the ex-FARC mafia and Brazilian criminal groups, and…