The mayor of Bogotá, Carlos Fernando Galán, spoke again about the insecurity that exists in the capital and the measures he took since he came to office, last January 1, to be able to improve the indices and restore tranquility to the capital's residents.
The president indicated that, at the time he took office as the new mayor of the city, he found that The different entities and institutions that were supposed to ensure security in Bogotá were working in a disjointed manner.which, in their eyes, favors the criminal structures that operate in different locations.
“I found a city, in a way, like each man for himself. Mayor's Office on its side, Security Secretariat, Police, Prosecutor's Office, Army… And that is the best thing that can happen to crime, and that is for each authority to be on its side. So, we came to organize that and say, 'No. Here everyone has to coordinate, and we seat the Army, Police, Prosecutor's Office and also the private sector and citizens at the same table.'” Galan explained.
Likewise, the president added that part of this division could have been due to the way the former mayor of Bogotá acted, Claudia López, whom he pointed out for having highlighted some achievements as her own and for having blamed third parties for the problems that she could not solve.
“One cannot go out and boast about a positive result and then blame someone else when there is a problem, and that happened in the mayor's government, unfortunately. That can't happen. One has to go out and put on the chest no matter what, I am responsible for security in Bogotá, yes. Now that I have all the tools, I have some, but my main responsibility is to articulate the actors, all of them, and sit them down and, each one with their responsibility, give them tools so that they can fulfill it,” said Galán.
The mayor also referred to the task of leading joint work with the different sectors and how this should be one of his main tasks.
“I'm not going to wash my hands saying 'this depends on the Police. Of course it depends on the Police and the Army and the Prosecutor's Office, yes, but the responsibility of articulating them all and organizing them is mine. and that's what I'm doing. That changed in this government and we are beginning to organize ourselves to be able to implement a much more effective policy, which we started in January and which has had some important results, but not enough, it must be said.
Finally, he acknowledged that, although some high-impact crimes have been attacked in the city, extortion continues to be one of the most important challenges, on which they have not been able to have the expected results.
“Extortion has increased, we have improved reporting, but there we have a problem that we recognize and that we are facing. (…). “We received the problem that I mentioned to you, a budget approved last year by the Council and the last government,” added Galán, who pointed out that, starting in June of this year, he will be able to count on his government plan and his budget, which which, according to him, will allow him to improve the security strategy in the city.
“Starting in June, we will have more tools and we cannot say that we have a budget from another government,” he concluded.
