The Union of Local Governments (UNGL) and the National Network of Municipal Police asked the legislators to approve the law to strengthen these police forces before they leave their seats on April 30th.
The initiative aims to regulate, unify and provide the Municipal Police with a legal framework that allows adequate financing and at the same time delimits its powers and actions within each canton.
According to Karen Porras, executive director of the UNGL, the proposal is important for citizen security because it helps update the legal framework and to standardize the police forces.
Currently in the country there are 23 local governments that have municipal police and at least 1,000 municipal police.
The initiative would reform laws to strengthen the financing of police forces without generating new taxes.
These are the changes that it raises:
– Reform of the Parking Measurers Act so that the funds collected can go to finance the municipal police.
– Reform of the Traffic Law so that 70% of the fines currently charged by municipal inspectors can be directed to the financing of the Municipal Police. Currently that amount is 40%.
– Authorization for the municipalities to take funds from the park service fee, its maintenance and security.
The initiative was affirmatively declared on November 11th, 2017 by the Security and Drug Trafficking Commission of the Congress and is on the agenda of the Legislative Plenary.