2024-04-07 14:27:52
The shooting carried out by the woman in the Santiago market revealed the shortcomings in the work of private security guards.
The serious incident that Mariana Cea was involved in this Monday at one of the entrances to the Lo Valledor market, after snatching the gun from a guard and shooting three people, once again highlighted the importance of education, training and control that exists in the country regarding private security.
The 54-year-old woman, who was charged with three crimes of attempted homicide, in addition to threats and surprise robbery, put in check the plan that the facility had implemented and It revealed clear shortcomings in the work of those in charge of protecting clients when they are inside.
To know the opinion of experts on the matter, THE DYNAMO He spoke with the former director of the Center for Citizen Security Studies of the University of Chile, Hugo Frühling, and the analyst and academic of the Department of Political Studies of the University of Santiago, Marcelo Mella.
For the latter, “there is no doubt that one of the risks facing the country in terms of public security consists of its privatization. To the extent that there are no clear rules of the game for Carabineros and its operational performance, evidently the possibility Generating a process of privatization of long-term security means returning to the state where whoever has greater economic resources can guarantee levels of security. that public institutions cannot guarantee.”
“Regarding the training of those people who are going to carry weapons, it was clear that in the case of Lo Valledor The person in charge of carrying weapons did not have sufficient training to fulfill the role he had. So, it requires more demanding regulations in terms of action, but also in terms of training and training,” he assured about the serious incident.
Clear instructions
Hugo Frühling, for his part, stated that although “general conclusions cannot be drawn from a pure case, it is evident that when private security begins to assume control of crowded situations or places, You must have not only adequate preparation, but also clear instructions from your authorities“.
“Deep down, here there is a kind of evolution to private companies carrying out control tasks that were previously assumed by the public authority. Thus, These companies must be prepared to fulfill the same roles and with the same demands as those authorities.“emphasized the current professor at the Faculty of Government of the University of Chile.
Regarding whether the Lo Valledor case was just an issue of neglect or a more complex situation, Frühling maintained that “in addition to the woman’s personal situation, it is evident that there are circumstances surrounding and that give the situation a special risk.” . And the guards must be trained and aware of those circumstances. It is not enough for them to intervene, but they must also know what factors are influencing people’s actions.“.
On this point, Marcelo Mella stressed that “what one can clearly see is that there are people in charge of guaranteeing security in a private space who do not have sufficient technical training to carry weapons. So, we have a problem that can be quite serious due to the need to guarantee security in shopping centers and other types of private spaces with people who do not have the necessary professional training. “I think that is the main conclusion of what happened on Monday.”
Rules for the use of force
In that sense, the USACH academic also addressed the project being processed in Congress on the rules for the use of force.
“There is a discussion that the country must have regarding the use of force by both public institutions and private institutions. Clearly the levels of violence and the type of crimes have changed in the last decadeand it is necessary for Congress to legislate both the rules for the use of force that correspond to public order and security institutions, and the subsidiary capacity that private security institutions could also have to collaborate with this.
Regarding the ease with which the woman extracted the weapon from the guard’s holster, Hugo Frühling asserted that “the issue of weapon safety should be protocolized. That guard has special authorization to carry a weapon, which does not correspond to any private person walking on the street. Consequently, he must assume responsibility, because if he does not do so he endangers the people who are close to him, as actually happened.“.
Regarding the questioning of private guards carrying lethal weapons, Mella stated that “if one looks at this issue very pragmatically, the truth is that there is not very strong evidence against private institutions being able to carry weapons. The issue is whether people have adequate training and whether there are instances of subsequent control and regulation.r, against possible violations of human rights or acts of excessive use of force.”
Training and supervision
Frühling, meanwhile, recalled that “there are authorizations and training obligations. Security companies and their guards are subject to inspections by Carabineros. That is the time to verify to what extent these trainings are sufficient or if the staff is sufficiently trained. “These are factors that require a look beyond what the law says.”
Finally, and given the fact that in the country there are on average four private guards for every police officer, Marcelo Mella admits that It is necessary to better prepare and supervise the first.
“But I would say that the most urgent thing is to strengthen Carabineros. I think The number of private companies that carry out tasks linked to the security of private spaces has to do with an institutional weakness of the Carabineros in matters of security and public order. that it is not new, that it has been around for at least a decade or more,” he concluded.