Panama Forum

panamajames
Joined 2012
Posts: 5096

8 years ago

El Valle Crime

8 years ago

This was posted by Chuck Holton.......

Local police came to our church (EV Church of Christ) after our Sunday service and spoke with our young people. They have a dedicated police Sergeant whose job is to interface with the local kids and work on prevention. They estimate that over 70% of the crimes that take place in El Valle are perpetrated by teenagers.

There are drugs being sold and consumed in El Valle. I won't characterize it as a "huge" drug problem, as there are, according to the police, less than a dozen of the 700+ teens at the IPT school who are involved. The police know who the troublemakers are, but because Panama has very strict regulations regarding prosecution of minors, it is difficult to remove those involved.

There are some adults involved in the sale, transfer and use of drugs here in El Valle - even a few gringos. Those of you who may be included in that group should be very careful. I've been to La Joya and Renacer prisons. They aren't somewhere you'd want to spend your retirement.

Drugs beget theft and violence in a community. I've met recently with representatives from all levels of Panamanian government in my professional capacity (working on various projects) and make it a point to bring up the drug issue and specifically El Valle where appropriate. They are aware of the problem and are genuinely interested in doing something about it. That's all I will say about that in a public forum.

In the meantime, on the subject of protecting your stuff from theft:

1. There are 12 policemen assigned to El Valle, not including the 1 Transito who is currently rotated on an 8-day shift. This is an appropriate level of police presence in line with a similar sized town in the US. They spend much of their time working on crime prevention. They aren't lazy or incompetent: they are working hard behind the scenes to address the issues we face. One I spoke to had to move her son out of El Valle because she was receiving death threats.

2. As it isn't possible for the police to be everywhere, it's up to you to protect yourself from theft. The best ways to accomplish this are to harden your residence and employ "operational security" - that is, be very careful about who you allow into your home (most non-drug-related robberies involve a current or former employee) and who knows what you have.

Video surveillance is helpful after the fact and poses some deterrent factor - PriceSmart currently has a four-camera HD720 system on sale from Q-see for less than $300. They are good quality and easy to install - my 15-year-old son would be happy to help you install your system if you need assistance.

There is MUCH more information I've collected on this subject, but an open forum is not the place to discuss it. If anyone has information that might be helpful or would like to talk further, feel free to stop by our place. 5th house behind the bakery.

Chuck Holton
6413-5135

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