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Dr Sleepwell

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  1. 56927499b9fb0_drsleepwellbannerWTEXT5.72
     
    We were all horrified to learn of the violent attack on our friend Richard Moore on a peaceful Wednesday morning last week. I know I speak for the entire community in wishing him a speedy recovery.
     
    In the aftermath of the incident, it became common knowledge that Richard for some time had provided security assessments as a volunteer for Alto al Crimen. Some people rather insensitively commented on the irony of a security assessor becoming a crime victim. Even Alto al Crimen failed to immediately support their volunteer, only belatedly announcing that he was a former volunteer as if to distance themselves from his tragedy. It seems that Richard is another victim of the maxim, “No good deed shall go unpunished.” 
     
    Somewhere in the Christian Ten Commandments, there is one about loving your neighbor as your brother. I for one am proud to defend Richard as a brother. 
     
    Richard is a very good man. He and his wife are good people. They are us and we are them. Richard selflessly gave of his time to help make our community a safer place for all. What happened to him was a cruel alignment of circumstances, which, but for the grace of time, place and luck, go all of us. 
     
    Richard was and is concerned with the safety of our community. I would suggest that the best way to honor his loss is to learn what we must - without judgement or criticism - from his experience and apply those lessons to make our own lives and those of our friends, more secure. 
     
    The lessons about how to establish a secure lifestyle are not difficult, but we have been slow to learn them - at a terrible cost in blood and treasure. In the last year alone: Joe Potrebenko, Marion Clamp and now Richard Moore. Along with many others who we are less aware of.
     
    So thank your Richard - Thank you for your service to our community. Thank you for being a shepard and a teacher. We can only hope that your tragedy will help save many others from the disaster of violent crime in the future. It can be done and we much do it, just as you taught us. 
     
    Dr. Sleepwell
     
  2. drsleepwell banner WTEXT 5.72.jpg

    Looking Forward to a Safe and Secure 2016

    January 1, 2015

    by Dr. Sleepwell

    2015 was a year of turmoil for expats in Chiriqui. However, I believe we will mark 2015 as a turning point in our collective security from crime - for the community, for us as individuals, for the police and even the politicians. 

    Taking Responsibility

    The response of the community, individuals and the police to the 2015 uptick in crime (especially the violent home invasions) has been unique in our short history. Collectively, I would call it taking responsibility.

    As I have pointed out many times, the police can only swing into action after a crime has been committed. It is up to all of us, working individually and together, to prevent crime from happening and to actively and promptly report it when it does. 

    Let’s take a quick look at some of the successes that made us more secure in 2015:

    Citizens Take Control

    One of the most striking advances this year is the rise of community policing in Alto Boquete and the canyon communities. Citizen leaders in Santa Lucia, los Brisas, Emerald Drive, Alto Dorado and other neighborhoods are deploying walkie-talkie networks, community camera systems and ad-hoc WhatsApp texting networks, which include the police. Suspicious cars and people are regularly photographed, reported and even followed in vehicles. 

    Citizens are taking control of their communities.

    Along with much improved police presence, these steps send a clear message to the criminals:  

    This is OUR community, we know who you are, we do not fear you and you are not welcome here.

    A couple of short examples demonstrate the effectiveness of the new spirit of community security:

    An Evening in Alto Boquete

    An expat and is family were enjoying an evening together when a perimeter alarm went off, followed by security lights coming on. They observed three men circling the house apparently preparing an attack, which could very well have been violent. A big alarm was set off and the invaders realized that they have been detected and disrupted. As they fled down the street, the residents observed them getting into a waiting cab at the intersection. 

    Meanwhile, one Spanish-speaking family member called the DIJ (police investigative) office, not two blocks away. Three officers responded, intercepted the cab and took the group into custody. Video cameras at the residents’ house provided positive identification of the criminals and their intentions. 

    Even though they weren't charged (no crime was committed), these criminals had their worst fear realized - identification. Now the cops (and the residents) know who they are and will pay them a visit any time some crime is committed in the area. 

    The Rumble in Cuesta Piedra

    The scenario is familiar - a two kilometer dirt road leading to a house occupied by a single woman. On Thanksgiving night, workers living near the property observed a suspicious car with three men headed for the unoccupied house. They came out and confronted the intruders. Realizing that they have been detected and disrupted, the intruders turned the car around and attempted to flee. Finding the gate closed by the workers, they drove through a ditch to get away. 

    Returning to the house, the workers discovered a forth burglar organizing the items to be stolen and waiting for the car that never came. He was chased down, captured and tied up.

    A community alert is sent out. Rodny was called to coordinate the police response. An ad-hoc WhatsApp network was activated. Thus alerted, another citizen reported seeing three suspicious men passing through his back yard. The three had ditched the car on a side road and were sneaking back to town. 

    All four were captured by the police and reportedly confessed to other crimes in the area, including tying up residents they found at home. Under the new accusatory system, (just like in the US) they were freed on “bail” which amounts to having to report to the police twice a week. Even though they may or may not face jail time, it will be far harder for them to continue their criminal ways. 

    From Private Investigators to Professional Police

    2015 is the year when professional policing arrived in Chiriqui. Previous commissioners and officials began the process of professionalizing the police forces of Chiriqui. However, with the new administration, modernization has moved into high gear. 

    In 2010, with a largely indifferent police force, the only hope of finding out who had stolen your stuff was to hire a private investigator. Results were, shall we say, mixed. First, information which is paid for cannot be used in a criminal prosecution. With the new accusatory system, even talking to a PI could poison a prosecution for the police. Second, any person in Panama who has knowledge of a crime is required by law to report it to the police. Thus, a PI who spends weeks developing information about a crime could himself be arrested for failing to report it promptly.

    The arrival of Captain Juan Arauz in Boquete has marked a sea change in our relationship with the police. The consummate professional, Captain Arauz frequently investigates crimes himself, even minor ones, leading by example and providing a commanding presence far beyond Boquete. Panama needs more like Juan.

    The bad old days of “We don’t have gas for our car” are gone. Now, on a busy Saturday night in Boquete, one might see the flashing lights of three new police trucks patrolling the town. Patrols in the canyon communities of Alto Boquete are now frequent, as is interaction and cooperation with the residents. Response times are down across the board and the police work with Rodny’s Helpline to further improve their performance.

    Dealing with gangs

    In 2011, the police commissioner in David told us that the only way to stop the criminal drug gangs was to provide alternative activities for young people. The gang diversion policies put in place under the Martinelli administration are being continued and strengthened under Varela. They have proven effective in the U.S. and elsewhere. 

    The roots of the gang problem are easy to see: Panama has literally gone from 1950 to 2015 in the space of less than ten years. Eight years ago, Pricesmart was virtually unknown to Panamanians. Most of the cars on the road were old beaters. At the first parade I photographed, I was virtually the only person in the crowd with a camera. Most Panamanians didn't use WhatsApp, Facebook, texting or smart phones.

    Given this almost instantaneous modernization, it’s not surprising that many “old world” parents are not experientially equipped to deal with the lives that their children are facing. The nuclear family - the core of Panamanian society since the beginning - is disappearing, just as it has in other developed nations. Only much more abruptly.

    The Varela government is actively pursuing the gang diversion strategy - according to the new Minister of Security, dozens of gangs have been broken up and thousands of young men put to useful work, dramatically reducing the murder rate in Colon and Panama City. Efforts are under way to apply the same program to David. 

    There is much that the expat community could do to help these youth programs, including music, sports, apprenticeship training and more. I expect this will be a topic for discussion in 2016.

    Looking forward to 2016

    The new year will certainly bring us new challenges. However, we go into 2016 much stronger, better prepared and more confident in our ability to live safe and prosper in Panama. 

    For more information about security methods and options, please visit:

     

     

  3. Today I had a chance to look at the screens and frames in detail. To say the least, I am impressed. They were designed from the ground up as security devices and the thoughtfulness shows. For example, the pin hinges are very robust and the pins are screwed in from the inside, so you can't just knock the pin out and take the door off. 

    As for the light transmission, it is almost exactly like looking out of a car with tinted windows. You never even notice them. They also keep bugs out, so you could leave your windows open without sacrificing security. 

    Based on the comments about frames, I inspected carefully. The frames are very sophisticated aluminum extrusions, designed to be mounted when possible with screws at right angles to each other. All screws are covered with trim covers that would be very difficult to remove without special tools. You can not bash through these screens with a sledge hammer and I would guess even a .22 bullet would have a hard time getting through, although this is a question for the full review. 

    According to Betheny, almost everyone in Australia uses this type of product, so it is a mature and sophisticated technology. 

    I'll be doing an in depth review of the Fuertech products in the near future. 

    IMG_0982.thumb.jpg.800c0baa038df656a2f81IMG_0983.thumb.jpg.44b7f39057c58919172d0

    • Upvote 3
  4. Posted with permission from Rainelda Mata-Kelly, the highly regarded Panamanian attorney:

    The issue is that under our Constitution, a law cannot contravene a treaty signed by the Republic of Panama. 
     
    It is not that the UN can threaten our sovereignty, it is that Panama as a sovereign nation has signed treaties that are commitments which are valid and binding and cannot be repealed by a law. 
     
    Rainelda Mata-Kelly
    Tel (+507) 216-9299
    rmk@mata-kelly.com
     
    Thanks to Rainelda for adding her authority to the discussion of treaties vs sovereignty. It would seem that by voluntarily signing treaties, countries agree to give up part of what might have been considered their sovereign rights.
     
    • Upvote 1
  5. This is an addendum to yesterday's report on the BCP  meeting of Minister of Security Rodolfo Aguilera.
     
    I am posting this partly because of a possible misunderstanding about what the Minister said and more importantly, because the subject of juvenile crime is so much on our minds after the tragedy of Marion Clamp and others. If you would like to see these laws changed, see below.
     

    My original report stated that: "UN treaties supersede national law, so getting it changed will be difficult. " Well-informed reader Judy Sacco pointed out correctly that this is not the case: 

     
    "A UN treaty does not supersede national laws. Specifically, the UN has no capacity or ability to threaten a country’s sovereignty."
     
    In the Minister's own words:
     
    "There is a juvenile crime law in Panama which is very soft - UN standards. These standards are drafted by Europeans, and..."
     
    [He jokes that he received his Master's Degree in England and that he knows how the Europeans think about these things. [In my interpretation, the Europeans do not necessarily understand the lack of "social safety nets" here in Panama]
     
    "Congressman Samil [last name unintelligible] from David is the one who is leading the path for those congressmen who are willing to change the law. It means precautionary measures to incapacitate those juvenile criminals. We have to do it because the law has become an incentive for criminal gangs, so they [the minors] become the operating arm of bigger [criminal gangs].
    ...
     
    I cannont change the law because I am not a legislator, but I know that Athena, your [deputada] here in the Boquete, Dolega and Gualaca regions is [active in this] and my brother is the congressman for the Volcan/Bugaba area... and it's important that initiative. 
     
    The problem is we have signed treaties with UN standards and Panama treaties are a higher guarantee than law - so they would have to find a way to circumvent that problem. But I totally agree with you - we need more strict rules when it comes to juvenile gangs."  [what is the difference between treaty compliance and loss of sovereignty?]
     
    What conclusions can we draw?
     
    First, we are well represented here in Chiriqui (and at the highest levels of government) in regard to this problem. Second, we have an obligation as expats to participate in the process of change. While we don't vote and most don't pay taxes, there is something concrete we can do to influence change in the law.
     
    In Panama, petitions carry weight in the political process.
     
    At the recent community meeting in Potrerillos, over 165 signatures were gathered on a petition to encourage changes in the criminal laws. These were forwarded to Athena with her gratitude. 
     
    Next Saturday each and every one of us can go to the Chiriqui Storage Flea Market and sign a petition urging the legislators to change the criminal laws regarding juvenile offenders. 
    • Upvote 1
  6. Cross posting can be good - Don Ray (OK, and my wife too) pointed out that I had neglected to mention the issue of crimes by minors. 

    The short answer is that Panama's laws are based on a UN treaty for treatment of minors. Rodolfo got his Master's Degree in England and is quite sophisticated in his understanding of European thinking. In those countries with advanced social safety nets, minors who commit crimes are shunted to social welfare agencies. In Panama, we have none of that and they are out on the street. 

    UN treaties supercede national law, so getting it changed will be difficult. 

    With this in view (and the sorry state of the prosecutorial system), the gang intervention strategy looks better and better. We have to look for strategies to prevent crime in the first place. Turn the young people away from the gangs and make our houses unattractive targets.  Friends don't let friends live in unsafe houses.

  7. October 27, 2015 - BCP Theater, Boquete Panama - This morning saw a much anticipated presentation by the new Minister of Security for Panama, Rodolfo Aguilera, in addition to Mayor of Boquete Emigdio Walker Vasquez and popular chief of police, Juan Arauz. 

     

    This follows a meeting on Monday in David, where President Juan Carlos Varela Rodriguez participated on a panel to discuss revising the plans and programs for security in this region of the country. https://www.presidencia.gob.pa/Noticias/Varela-Rodriguez-revisa-planes-y-programas-de-seguridad-en-Chiriqui

     

    Rodolfo Aguilera presented a huge amount of very detailed information, of which I will summarize only a small fraction. The meeting was videotaped and I would recommend it to anyone interested.

     

    First, let me say that looking at the people on stage, the Mayor, police chief, Rodolfo and his American/Panamanian assistant, I got the very strong feeling that we are seeing a new breed of well educated, modern technocrats moving into positions of authority in Panama. 

     

    Rodolfo presented for more than an hour, supported by volumes of detailed powerpoint slides, discussing types of crimes, trends by type, by province, even compared to other countries in Central America and the world. His comments pulled no punches and his answers to questions were forthright and direct. Here are some of the highlights from my notes:

     

     

    On the Panamanian criminal justice system

     

    Panama spends about $1 billion on criminal justice every year. And yet, it takes one year to investigate a crime, three years to bring it to trial and then 95% of the cases are dropped or found not guilty. Of those convicted and sent to prison, 65% return to a life of crime after release. The entire prosecutorial system needs an overhaul.

     

    Since Varela has taken office, new crime initiatives have reduced the gang murder and violence rates by 50% in one year, primarily in Panama and Colon provinces. After peaking in 2007, crime held fairly steady, and is now decreasing across the board, with the exception of domestic violence, for which new GPS bracelets are being introduced to keep offenders away from their victims. 

     

    On Gangs

     

    With the broken prosecutorial system, they realized that a new approach to crime reduction was needed - prevention. This comes in the form of co-opting the gangs, offering them alternatives. He said that gang members know that staying in the gangs means death by age 25 and most are actually eager to get out. This approach has been used successfully in New York City and other countries. Panama is modeling its program after those successes. 

     

    The program involves four steps, briefly:

    • Subverting the gangs - offering members a way out
    • Getting the gang members into vocational training (and dealing with mental health issues)
    • Labor reinsertion - ten percent of public construction project labor is to be provided by the ex-gang members
    • Monitoring to ensure compliance and provide guidance

     

    So far more than 4,000 gang members have been recruited, mainly in Panama City and Colon. Both places have seen marked drops in murder and violence. Thousands more are entering the program in the coming year. 

     

    At the same time, in 2013, 5 gangs were prosecuted and put in prison, while so far in 2015, 33 gangs have been broken up. However, using the conversion process, they have broken up more than 150 gangs, so the process is both cheaper and more effective than just incarceration. 

     

    On the security budget

     

    According to Rodolfo, Varela insists on cost justifying everything. When asked to justify increased spending on security, Rodolfo said, to paraphrase, “Well you just spent $3 billion on a transit system that was number three on the concerns of Panamanians. Crime is number one - how much are you spending on that?”

     

    He also described a nationwide camera system that is being contracted for, 2000 cameras across the country, built by a British firm [the British are the video security kings of the world], which will allow police to zero in on crimes in progress,  track license numbers and trace the car’s movement back through time, days or weeks before, face recognition and more. He said that the face recognition system in Tucomen airport had already caught more than a hundred criminals. 

     

    Panama is not getting enough out of its police forces. Most Latin American countries have between 1.5 and 2.5 police per 1,000 people. The international norm is 3. Panama has 6 policemen per 1000 people. Many are assigned to desk duty rather than what they were trained for. So the current administration is moving them out to the streets, but it is a long process involving 30,000 public service employees and almost a billion dollar budget. 

     

    On guns

     

    Rodolfo said that the ban on gun imports would be lifted in January, 2016. However, he and Varela are not totally agreed on the licensing strategy. Rodolfo said that 80% of violent gun attacks in the US are by people with a prior history of violence. Therefore, he favors a shorter registration process but much more detailed background checks. 

     

    These are only a few highlights from what was a most interesting and informative presentation. I would recommend that anyone who is interested watch the entire presentation. 

     

    See TV Chiriqui for the complete video presentation.

     

    IMG_0149.thumb.jpg.fa388dbfba7e136c86361

     

     

     

     

     

    • Upvote 1
  8. The beach communities, centered on Coronado and stretching to Santa Clara in the west and Valle Anton to the north, and San Carlos in the east, have seen more than their share of violent crime emanating from their close connection to Panama City. Several extremely violent robberies, some involving Boquete residents, deeply affected the residents. 

    In 2013, working with the new Rodny hotline service in Boquete, T. Rob Brown took the lead in founding what is now the Panama Helpline. Based on the same technology and methodology of Rodny Direct and with training from Rodny, both organizations are founding members of what is becoming the Panama Helpline Network. 

    After innumerable feel-good meetings with the police and officials, the residents and Panama Helpline took matters into its own hands. Their story is apocryphal for us here in Chiriqui. It is presented here complete in the hopes that it will inspire those among us who will not accept the tyranny of crime in our community.

     

    T. Rob Brown, founder Panama Helpline:

    We do not let the Police, DIJ or Public Ministry speak at our meetings anymore -  do these dog and pony BS shows  - it gives them credibility, when it is pure political crap. It also takes the heat off the brass.

    We are still waiting for the six new bilingual police officers and two new vehicles in San Carlos they promised at Rancho Los Toro on June 6th 2013 - you and Mark were there. They  said they had arrested two suspects (because Martin the PI [from Boquete] handed them the suspects on a silver platter), great applause - they said more arrests coming soon (none) , and that six new bilingual officers and three new vehicles were being sent to San Carlos (thunderous applause none have ever arrived - and then the prosecutor let them [the suspects] out after 1 hour of polite questioning,
     
    So we went after the Prosecutor and sued him for failing to do his job - and sued the suspects in a civil action - The Prosecutor got “relocated", arrests were made and four people are in jail. If the media/news is not there to hold their feet to the fire, they can and will say anything - we needed a solution to the robberies, not more talk from politicos.
     
    Same as the Woody’s robberies - three armed robberies within weeks - no investigation, no arrests - nothing - we hired a PI (BM Investigations this time) and called a meeting with the DIJ brass.  
     
    Nothing would have happened if I did not have TV cameras, two newspapers and a radio interview set up the day the meeting was held.
     
    So many cops showed up in Farallon for the meeting, the big cartel bosses sent the message out to the local gang to cut it out (they broke both legs of the gang leader - the second in command took off and has never returned)
     
    We can’t catch all the crooks, but we can make a huge effort when violence is involved. That sends a message - steal a TV - fine - but shoot, hurt, rape of terrorise one of our members and we will go after you with every resource at our disposal.

     

     

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  9. Right on Brundageba. Protect yourselves now and do it now! Self delusion is deadly. 

    As a community we need to institute a program like "Friends don't let friends become victims." Many of the victims of violent home invasions are single men and women - living in completely, utterly, insecure dwellings - and in denial. 

    Contact me from the Sleepwell website, I'd love to share ideas.  www.sleepwell.com. Anyone else too, who is willing to make a difference and end this tyrany. 

     

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