VENEZUELA Country Profile

Police

Individual Corruption

In the Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer 2009, the police are perceived by the responding citizens to be a very corrupt institution. This is backed by the Latinobarómetro 2008 (see English version) which reveals that Venezuela is one of the countries in the region where most respondents believe that it is possible to bribe a policeman in order to avoid a fine or arrest.

According to the US Department of State 2009, corruption is a serious problem among all police forces. Police members are poorly trained and paid. Brutality and other acts of violence are the main problem. According to the Minister of Interior and Justice, 1,948 police officers were accused of misconduct in 2007, including human rights violations. Although hundreds of investigations are carried out each year, impunity is still the rule as very few are convicted.

Business Corruption

As shown in the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010, companies have a low degree of confidence in the Venezuelan police. Consequently, there has been an increasing reliance on private security to protect foreign companies and expatriate staff, particularly in the oil sector.

Global Integrity 2009 reports on a case of police extortion of a businessman who was under investigation by the National District Attorney. On pretext of searching for evidence police officers from the Corps of Scientific, Penal and Criminal Investigations entered the businessman's house and extorted him to pay VEF 6.000 to avoid troubles. After consulting with his attorney, the businessman accepted to pay off the officers in order to avoid that they planted false evidence that could damage his case.

Political Corruption

According to US Department of State 2009, corruption and abuse of power plague the Venezuelan police. The police are not free of political interference; the government uses police forces to repress political demonstrations and President Chávez has in several cases tried to take over control with the police in cities or provinces lead by the opposition.

In December 2009 following the killing of two National Guardsmen in Tachira state, Chávez claimed that the police forces in Tachira and Zulia, whose governors are members of the opposition, had failed to control Colombian paramilitary activity and warned that he had ordered the Defense Minister to seize state police headquarters if they continued "to openly defy the public authority".

In 2003, Chávez refused to comply with a Supreme Tribunal of Justice ruling that ordered the return of control of the Caracas police force from the federal government to the city's mayor who belonged to the political opposition. The government alleges that the police force was repressing pro-government demonstrations, while Chávez's opponents claim that the decision to take over the Caracas police force undermined the autonomy of the civilian police.

According to several observers, the Venezuelan police are suffering from a culture of impunity. Extra-judicial killings, unlawful arrests, torture and other human rights violations happen frequently as reported by the US Department of State 2009. The Guardian cites in a September 2009 article the Venezuelan Justice and Interior Minister who states that about 20% of the country's crime is committed by the police.

Frequency

World Economic Forum: The Global Competitiveness Report 2009-2010:
- Business executives give the reliability of the Venezuelan police services to enforce law and order a score of 2 on a 7-point scale (1 being 'cannot be relied upon at all' and 7 being 'can always be relied upon').

Human Rights Watch: World Report 2009:
- 6,068 police and National Guard officials were implicated in alleged extrajudicial killings between 2000 and 2007; only 1,142 had been charged, and only 204 convicted.

Transparency International: Global Corruption Barometer 2009:
- 36% of the surveyed citizens report to have paid a bribe to the police within the last 12 months.

Latinobarómetro: Annual Report 2008 (see English version):
- 60% of respondents in this public survey believe that it is possible to bribe a police official to avoid a fine or arrest.