Argentine Federal Police transfer to City of Buenos Aires to officially begin.
The Argentine Federal Government and the City of Buenos Aires administration have signed an agreement for the transfer of the Argentine Federal Police to the Metropolitan Police. The agreement, in the form of one of many "urgent and necessary" decrees signed by President Mauricio Macri since he took office three weeks ago, will now have to be ratified by the Buenos Aires City Legislature (where his party, the right-wing PRO, holds a majority).
“This step is very important, in a path that will be long,” Buenos Aires City Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta said today during an official ceremony at the Casa Rosada government house headed by President Mauricio Macri; both the mayor and the president belong to the PRO.
Today's agreement envisages the transfer by no later than October 1 of all 53 precincts and 21,000 officers and staff in the Argentine Federal Police to the Metropolitan Police, which was created by Macri early in his mayoral tenure in 2008.
Macri's Metropolitan Police, which has only 6,000 officers and staff and covers only 6 out of the city's 15 communes, has been the subject of numerous scandals since its formation. These include Macri's choice for its first director, Jorge "Fino" Palacios (who was still under indictment for obstruction of justice during the botched investigation of the 1994 AMIA Jewish mutual society bombing), the violent quashing of a 2013 protest by the disabled, as well as its use in the past for warrantless wiretapping and politically-motivated searches of homes and businesses belonging to opposition officials (even outside Buenos Aires).
The transfer of the 135 year-old Argentine Federal Police (whose main jurisdiction, despite its name, is the City of Buenos Aires) to municipal control was initially agreed to by former President Carlos Menem in 1993. Menem, however, signed in 1995 a law introduced by a fellow longtime Peronist, Senator Antonio Cafiero, to impede the transfer on fears that the Federal Police (the second-largest police force in Argentina) would be used by the city's anti-Peronist mayors for political ends.
Macri, however, was optimistic. “Once (the transfer) is completed, we will continue working together. We have no doubt it is the best way to improve the life of people,” he said, adding that his administration aims to make Buenos Aires “one of the safest cities in the world.”
Among the officials present in today’s signing ceremony, were Security Minister Patricia Bullrich and Justice and Security Minister of the City of Buenos Aires, Martín Ocampo. Cabinet Chief Marcos Peña was also part of the meeting after which he held a press conference along with Rodríguez Larreta to brief the press on the accord.
At: http://buenosairesherald.com/article/206124/macri-larreta-arrange-federal-police-transfer-to-city-scope
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