Author: Natalia Trujillo Varela
Competent entities were summoned to the debate.
Problems continue to be around the inhabitant in street condition, perception of security, occupation of public space and the presence of GDO and GAO.
Among the most notable conclusions of the follow-up session on the issue of security in the city, led by corporate member Hooverney Correa, and presented yesterday in the Council of Armenia, the speaker’s proposal for a ‘Disarmament Plan’ stood out, which consists of exchanging firearms, artisanal, traumatic and sharp weapons, for food.
“In Bogotá a few years ago, there was a disarmament plan, where they gave markets for weapons and many people who had machetes, artisanal weapons or firearms, preferred to take the weapon so that they could give them a market. How good that in Armenia we could take the initiative and do an analysis of whether it can give results or not, taking into account that there are so many traumatic weapons, firearms, pellet weapons, etc.,” Correa said.
Within the session, the security indicators were evaluated and provided a positive balance compared to the previous year. “We see that many indicators have been below the previous year and it has allowed a mitigation of crime, something good for the city, in terms of crimes against women, sexual violence, domestic violence, or sexual abuse, they are indicators that have been lower with compared to the previous year,” said council member Hooverney Correa.
However, he pointed out that cybercrimes have increased, since he showed high indicators, “Suddenly it may be due to people’s ignorance of how criminals operate at a cyber level, however, we must highlight the work that the Police do in preventing crime cases,” he pointed out.
SECRETARY OF GOVERNMENT
The Secretary of Government and Coexistence, Jorge Andrés Buitrago Moncaleano, expressed that from his office constant reviews have been carried out in critical points and throughout the city, likewise, periodic meetings have been held with the Police commanders and the different presidents of the Boards. of Community Action, since he expressed that it is the councilors and the community who have first-hand information, which is why he considered an important alliance.
In this work in Armenia, 700 arrests have been made so far this year, half a ton of narcotics has been removed from the streets, more than 40 illegal weapons have been seized and some vehicles have also been recovered.
The crimes that showed an increase compared to last year are bank robbery, of which one has occurred so far, and personal injuries due to fights.
“The issue of personal injuries is a bit complex and we have been making a work plan because many of these are related to alcohol intake, family issues, drug use and these cases are presented to us especially in the afternoon and evening. and late hours of the morning. With the homicides, the weekend that just passed we already went green and, let’s say, we achieved a reduction compared to last year, but we know that we still have a lot to do and intervene,” said Buitrago.
He concluded by saying that there is still a lot of work to be done and a lot to intervene, likewise, that there is more institutional presence in the downtown sector of the city and more control.
Regarding the problem of homeless residents, he said: “they do not necessarily cause us to commit crimes, but they do affect the sectors; their presence so that they stay there is related to comfort, the possibility of consumption or acquisition of nearby narcotics and income”.
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QUINDÍO POLICE AND ARMY
The Quindío Police Department presented crime figures in Armenia. To date there are 38 homicides compared to the year 2023 where 35 occurred for the same period. Regarding personal injury crimes, 2023 closed with 245 cases and, so far in 2024, 312 cases have been reported, which represents a variation of 26%.
Theft from residences in 2023 had a report of 141 and in 2024 there were 103. Theft from commerce has significantly reduced with 133 cases so far this year, compared to 360 reported in 2023.
Automotive theft, according to reports in 2023, was 9 cases compared to 8 so far this year. Regarding the theft of motorcycles, last year there were 67 thefts and to date there are 49 cases.
Extortion in Armenia has decreased by one percentage point, in 2023 there were 25 cases and so far this year there are 24 reported.
Sexual crimes have reduced with a total of cases to date of 36 compared to 2023 which closed with a figure of 58 cases. Domestic violence has increased compared to 2023, since to date 253 domestic attacks have been reported compared to last year when 222 were reported.
445 cell phones were stolen in 2023, so far in 2024 the Police have a report of 318, in terms of theft of bicycles there has been an increase compared to 2023 with a total of 28 compared to 21. Finally, bank robberies , cattle rustling and kidnapping cases remain at 0.
Lieutenant Colonel David Ramírez, commander of the N.8 Francisco Javier Cisneros battalion based in Armenia, expressed that the work carried out between the Police and the Army has had good results and an improvement in figures and statistics.
“According to the community, we perceive that the perception of security has improved, this is constant, daily and determined work, we must strengthen it with the institutional campaigns that our National Government emanates from us (…) One of the best arguments for citizens It is that even though pamphlets and documents have been perceived that said that armed or criminal groups were here, in the development of our jurisdiction we have not found them and even with the Alta Montaña battalion, the sectors where there are allegedly presence of these groups and where people have told us that there may be an enemy, we have reinforced with troops from the Eighth Brigade to strengthen activities with the community and continue with the good institutional image. We do not have images of possible enemies but we do have images of our troops carrying out activities in the sector,” said the officer.
He expressed that a new unit will come to the department and is already being trained in Tolima, its arrival is expected at the end of July.
“We constantly have military personnel making calls to the community so that they can provide their service, at the same time, they also listen to people’s needs or complaints and immediately report to higher command so that improvement activities can be generated to coordinate with the Police. , Military and Police Gaula,” said Lieutenant Colonel Ramírez.
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MINISTRY OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Jenny Gómez Betancourt, Secretary of Social Development, referred to the problem of street dwellers. She explained that among the structural causes are family and economic conflicts and drug use. So far there are 1,240 characterized, 75% are typical of Quindío, 112 are in the process of improvement.
“Sadly we are creating homeless inhabitants due to the accessibility of consumption that exists. Today we also develop a prevention school where we take 220 boys, girls and adolescents so that they can see the consequences of consumption and the high risk of reaching the streets and we have brought testimonies from people so that they can share their life stories,” he expressed. Gomez Betancourt.
He continued saying, “We have shown that many street residents have been exploited by groups outside the law for micro-trafficking processes, we recognize that this is a reality.”
33 people are in a temporary home, during the day they are on the street but they have the possibility of having a place where they can spend the night. 117 have been registered as deceased since the statistics available for 2016.
“We have begun to do street surveys in detected outbreaks, just two days ago we went to the Paraíso neighborhood and there we found that many are coming there because they found a new place of sale, we also identified in this crash plan, that if we address the problem of We prevent it from continuing to be consumed in a preventive manner.”
Gómez Betancourt also said that the administration had a visit from the Ministry of Equality’s technical assistance, specifically with the director of homeless populations. “We are presenting a project of 2,000 million pesos, it is a very ambitious project but the same ministry identified us and prioritized Armenia in terms of homeless inhabitants,” said Gómez Betancourt.
He pointed out “Within the project that we are organizing we want to present support to the transitional center, one of the centers that we are going to have and is already in the legal process, the idea is for the inhabitants to enter and adapt to new models of life.”
