Criminality, Public Security, and the Challenge to Democracy in Latin America

Chapter Five: Public Opinion and the Police in Chile

c ha p t e r f i v e Public Opinion and the Police in Chile hugo frühling During the past twenty years, a number of governments in Latin America have undertaken police and criminal procedure reforms to improve the efficiency of their criminal justice systems and make them more accountable . Many of these attempts at police reform resulted from corruption scandals and the indiscriminate use of lethal force by the police.1 Twenty years later, many questions remain about what has been achieved. In a number of countries, reforms have not had an impact on the low esteem in which the general population holds the police. As an example, results of the Latinobarómetro survey, a poll conducted in eighteen Latin American countries, reveal that in recent years confidence in the police and the judicial system remains much lower than confidence in the armed forces and other institutions, although confidence in the police showed an increase in 2007. In 2003, 62 percent of those surveyed expressed much or some confidence in the Catholic Church, while only 29 percent had much or some confidence in the police, and a mere 20 percent said they had much or some confidence in the judicial system. In 2007, trust in the armed forces and the police showed an increase, 119 120 Hugo Frühling with 51 percent saying they had much or some trust in the armed forces and 39 percent saying the same about the police. When it comes to perceptions of corruption, figures from the 2004 Latinobarómetro survey indicate that 65 percent of survey respondents in México, 58 percent in Paraguay, and 57 percent in Argentina believe that in their country it is possible to bribe a member of the police. The lowest percentages of support for this statement are found in Chile (22 percent) and in El Salvador (20 percent). Although the results of police reforms have been modest in some countries, certain police forces, such as those of Chile, Colombia, and Nicaragua , have been able to improve substantially their image, reinserting themselves fully into democratic systems.2 In Chile, support for the police has been increasing since the return to democracy in 1990, despite a significant rise in the crime rate in the country during that time. Surveys carried out in 2003 confirm this, revealing high levels of subjective insecurity and significant rates of victimization, particularly of property crimes. At the same time, however, Chileans manifest substantial support for police forces, particularly the Carabineros de Chile (CC), which are mainly responsible for preventative public safety.3 The level of support for the police is noticeably higher than that for institutions of the criminal justice system, such as the courts or the government, as public security provider. This chapter compares the situation in Chile with that of other Latin American countries that have undertaken police reforms in the recent past. Chile is an anomaly in the Latin American context: while many of the police forces of the region have undergone administrative reforms to improve efficiency and counteract declining prestige in the eyes of the citizenry, the Chilean police have, by contrast, only experienced gradual changes under democracy. The aim of this chapter is to use the above mentioned public opinion surveys to analyze why there is public support for the police in Chile. The first part offers a description of the organizational changes affecting various police forces in Latin America as a result of democratization processes initiated two decades ago, and of the need to improve efficiency and control police abuse and corruption. The second part examines the situation of the Chilean police from the period of transition to democracy in 1990, and the changes introduced to bring the forces closer to the public. Finally, there is an assessment of the results of the surveys to draw Public Opinion and the Police in Chile 121 some conclusions about the challenges facing the Chilean police. Survey results show that there is strong support for the police because the public understands that the police are not responsible for rising crime rates, and because they see them as committed to their doing their job and invaluable when the country faces natural catastrophes. However, the surveys also reveal a series of challenges facing the police: lower income sectors clearly have a less positive view of the police, and, furthermore, the problems that appear to worry the majority of...