Elite Police will Patrol Ecuadorian Streets

Some 500 officers from elite corps of Ecuador Police will patrol the major cities with regular police forces to improve security, said the Ministry of Interior.

José Serrano, Minister of Interior, announced today the deployment of 160 members of GOE (Special Operations Group), GIR (Intervention and Rescue Group), and GEMA (Special Mobile Anti-Narcotics Group) in Quito.

The social perception that violence has increased in the country was one of the reasonswhy the Government called a referendum on May 7, in which Ecuadorians gave approval to a restructuring of Justice.

Serrano said that the Government “will spare all the resources needed to drop insecurity rates effectively.”

To reach this aim, national police will have an “integral” budget between 150 and 200 million dollars, which includes the “construction of specific infrastructure and the acquisition of specific radio equipment and mobiles, and the upgrade of weapons and other vehicles,” said the minister.

The joint patrols will be conducted initially in Quito, Guayaquil, Cuenca, Manta, and Esmeraldas, but it is expected to expand the service to other cities gradually. There will be a total of 500 police special forces in the streets, told a ministry source to Efe.

Source: Daily El Universo