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Paraguay The Police
The police had a long history in Paraguay. Francia maintained
the nation's first police establishment, using it to enforce his
complete control of the state. Under him, the police maintained a
wide-reaching spy network that moved ruthlessly to suppress dissent
and generated an atmosphere of fear. The police have remained a
powerful and politicized institution ever since. Until the mid1950s , the police often served as a counterweight to the armed
forces, but after police officials were implicated in an abortive
coup against Stroessner in late 1955, the force was purged, and
police paramilitary units were sharply cut back. Since then, the
police chief has almost always been a serving or retired army
officer. Army officers have also held many key positions in the
police hierarchy.
The Paraguayan police force was a centralized organization under
the administration of the minister of interior. The force comprised
two main elements, one for the capital and another for the rest of
the nation. A separate highway police patrolled the nation's roads
and was administered by the minister of public works and
communication.
In 1988 police strength was estimated at 8,500 personnel; about
4,500 were assigned to the capital and the rest to the nation's 19
departments. The ratio of police to the rest of the population was
one of the world's highest. Most rank-and-file police personnel
were two-year conscripts who generally served outside their home
area.
The capital police force was headed by a chief of police. Police
personnel were assigned to headquarters or to one of twenty-three
borough precincts. Police headquarters had three departments. The
regular police, who dealt with ordinary crime, as well as having
traffic-control mounted, and motorized elements, came under the
administration of the Department of Public Order. The Department of
Investigations, an internal security organ, dealt with political
and security offenses. The Department of Training and Operations
handled police administration and planning and ran police training
establishments. Several directorates at police headquarters
specialized in particular areas; among these were surveillance and
offenses, identification, alien registration, and politics. A
separate directorate specializing in political intelligence--
formerly the sole province of the army staff's intelligence
section--was established in mid-1987. Police personnel also ran the
capital's fire department.
A special unit of the capital police was the Security Guard, a
400-strong unit called up in cases of emergency and used in
ceremonies and parades. About one-half of the unit, which had two
rifle companies, was manned by conscripts.
Police in the interior were under the control of the government
delegate heading the department in which police operated. For
police functions, the delegate was in turn responsible to the
minister of interior. Each delegate usually had a police chief who
handled routine matters, an investigative section to process the
identity cards carried by all citizens, and an additional person to
supervise police arrests with a view to bringing charges.
Departments were divided into districts in which a justice of the
peace had several police conscripts assigned to him to carry out
guard and patrol duties and other routine police functions.
All police training took place in Asunción. Basic training was
given at the Police College, which offered a five-year course in
modern police techniques. The Higher Police College offered
specialized training. The police also operated a school for NCOs
and an in-service training battalion.
Data as of December 1988
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