Having lived in Chile for several years, I have had the opportunity to observe the day to day actions and responses of the local police, the Carabineros.
Looking through gringo eyes, it is difficult to understand the effectiveness of the Chilean police. They seem to be more interested in stopping vehicles to check on ownership and documentation than anything else involved in crime prevention. I have often wondered what their primary event garners them in terms of apprehensions or arrests. My expectation is that they should be more interested in patrolling areas of high crime at the critical times, yet they seem invisible or stand on the same street corner for hours. They seem to be reactive after a crime is committed and reported rather than proactive.
Additionally, when there are riots, euphemistically called demonstrations, the perpetrators are often allowed to run amok, destroying the personal property of anyone who happens to be in the vicinity of the "demonstration". This seems to be contradictory to what is expected of a police force of protecting and serving the public interest. Who is in control here, the police or the anarchists?
A local Chilean professor, whom I respect very much, stated the following: In my opinion, what you are seeing are the effects of a very long trend in Chilean politics, one that, since the return to democracy, centers around the principle against the use of force because of the political backlash that it generates thanks to the agenda of some human rights groups and the far left. And when that happens, the police do not have the political support to suppress violent manifestations with legitimate violence, because it will they who will be subject to harassment or threats of going to court. Sooner or later, the public will demand more coercive measures, but it requires a strong leader to make this happen.
So, in the post-Pinochet decades, the pendulum has swung widely towards the other direction. In the meantime, the wolves eat the sheep.
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