Reprinted from Caribbean Net News
caribbeannetnews.com

Dominican Republic using troops in crime crackdown

Thursday, July 27, 2006

by: Manuel Jimenez

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (Reuters): At least 6,000 soldiers joined police on patrol in the Dominican Republic on Wednesday and nightclub restrictions were set to go into effect as the government began a crackdown on crime.

The joint patrols will guard the capital, Santo Domingo, and 17 other cities against assaults and murders that have afflicted the tourism-dependent Caribbean country, said Adm. Sigfrido Pared Perez, secretary of the armed forces, and Maj. Gen. Bernardo Santana Paez, the chief of police.

"We hope all citizens will support and endure with discipline the measures that have been announced to deal with this climate of violence," Pared Perez said at a news conference.

Discos and nightclubs will be required to curtail their hours of operation starting on Thursday. During the week, clubs will have to shut at midnight. On weekends, they must close their doors by 2:30 a.m.

Official statistics show that the number of people who died because of violence between January and May -- the latest figures available -- actually fell to 922 from 1,051 during the same period last year.

But brazen daylight assaults and murders have stoked public perception that crime is soaring in the country of 8.5 million people, which shares the island of Hispaniola with far more chaotic Haiti.

Officials blame much of the violence on the drug trade. The Dominican Republic and Haiti are significant smuggling routes for Colombian cocaine heading to the United States.

Corruption in the police force and the armed forces also is a problem. Some 600 police officers have been dismissed so far this year for suspected involvement in crime or links to drug traffickers, the police chief said.

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