[killen39609]

TO: Panama Insider
FROM: Tim Killen
SUBJECT: Security: Single women
DATE: April 23, 2014

After half a dozen extensive visits over five years, I have come to agree that the members of the national police force are “VERY PROFESSIONAL”. Although some of them ought to brush up on their map reading skills.

They really look out for foreigners, which is a good thing considering how absent minded I am. Arriving at the Wyndham hotel casino ( well equipped with security cameras ), one night, I left my laptop computer on the back shelf of a taxi. The casino security manager obtained the license& REGISTRATION number of the cab, a pedestrian officer of the tourist police used this to obtain the cellphone number of the driver, who answered his call. He did not yet know the computer case was in his vehicle. Dropping off his fare, he drove to the hotel and with the police verifying it was mine, he returned it to me. All within 40 minutes. This is head and shoulders above most Latin American police forces, where, often, neighborhood offices lack a lost & found department.

The cab driver received a very generous tip. It was obvious he did not relish interacting with the police officers, something that can only bring trouble in most any land. I was strongly to present the senior police officer with an emolument. But I did not dare. He certainly did deserve to receive one. Later I penned a letter of commendation, but whether or not this ever found its way into his personnel file or could be read & understood, we will never know.

Once, in Santo Domingo, DR, I picked up, off the sidewalk, the address book and appointment book of a man with a hispanic name and an address in that city, and carried it across the street to the precinct office. The sergeant on duty looked it over, then asked: “what do you want me to do with it ?” I expect this is what would happen in Nicaragua, Honduras, etc. It would be helpful if you could could compare salaries across a range of Latin American countries. In terms of purchasing power, with terms & CONDITIONS. Police corruption typically starts when officers no longer receive a living wage (usually due to frozen salaries, while inflation accelerates). Then the habit of demanding informal compensation for service gets started.

This said, Panama’s police are better at responding to the scene of a crime than at prevention, at threatening the criminal element as a deterrent, or at detecting and prosecuting perpetrators.

As in most countries the foot patrolman, who walks the streets at night checking for unlocked doors among householders and tradesmen, whom he knows as friends, is a thing of the past. In rural Panama (and parts of the City) doors and windows of houses are barred, as in Hialeah, Opa Locka and other Miami suburbs. Guard dogs make the night hideous with unnecessary barking to persuade their owners they are earning their keep. Even some police stations are protected with razor wire over the bars. A single woman living in a single family house would be well advised to adopt these precautions. This is why so many of Panama’s residents live in gated communities & doorman guarded apartment buildings. In short, you buy your security a la carte, rather than paying big taxes to municipality & state to handle it for you.

Except in the very few desperate slums in the center of the country, I feel very secure on the streets and roads. I often hitchhike in rural areas, and when driving a car or truck, pick up a lot of pedestrians who are headed my way. I have never had a bad experience with this.

Criminals seem to be rather amateurish, being drawn, casually, to any show of immediately vendable, portable wealth. In a mugging, immediate abandonment of the valuables would, likely send the perpetrators flying. Identity theft, kidnapping, car theft and more complicated crimes may occurr. If so, the existence of these threats has been hidden from the media by the authorities with a skill that is very difficult for anyone to believe. That is: anyone familiar with the free press of this successful nation.
Sincerely, Tim Killen 1 561 659 3742
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