The rural sector of Biobío province faces a sustained increase in robbery and theft crimes that, despite conversations and working groups with Government authorities and the police, continue to occur with complete impunity.
That is why, with the support of the consultancy Leadetik —led by citizen security expert Jorge Contreras Blümel—, the aim is to develop the Socabio Rural Crime Observatory. It will gather evidence to determine with exactitude the frequency, scale, real situation, and in which sectors or communes of Biobío province rural crimes occur.
Contreras Blümel added that this initiative is of great importance, as it will subsequently allow for work on better public policies and better strategies to help combat crime, given that the situation is not visible at the public level, despite its severity.
CRITICISM OF THE ABANDONMENT OF THE RURAL WORLD
The citizen security expert criticized that the focus on organized crime and micro-trafficking issues has been centered exclusively on urban sectors, leaving the rural world totally abandoned.
"Every day we have an incident, either of cattle rustling or theft of agrochemical supplies or copper, which are the three main crimes we have today in the area and that affect the production and development of agricultural activity in our province very substantially," stated Jorge Contreras Blümel.
LACK OF PUBLIC POLICIES
From the Biobío Agricultural Society (Socabio), they confirmed the previous diagnosis and lamented that, despite all the conversations with Government authorities, Carabineros, and the Investigative Police, crimes continue to occur.
The president of the guild entity, José Miguel Stegmeier, expressed missing "more powerful" public policies in the area of rural security.
"That is precisely where the idea for the observatory we are commissioning as Socabio was born. We are the ones who will keep it active, and starting today, we are working on it with a particular company that will provide us the service," he indicated.
The leader explained that the idea is to gather all information on rural crimes, regardless of their nature.
To fulfill the objective, he added, there is a network of farmers committed to gathering the information.
SITUATION AND REPORTS
The president of Socabio acknowledged that, on several occasions, those affected fail by not filing their reports, which limits the available information.
"The most important thing is to do follow-up, whether in the Prosecutor's Office or in the courts, regarding how the entire investigative and judicial part is functioning. That is actually the focus of the observatory," stated Stegmeier.
Asked about the severity of the crime situation in the rural sector, José Miguel Stegmeier pointed out that crimes grow year by year.
"We are currently in a very complex situation, whether at the level of farmers or inhabitants of the rural world, with four or five very relevant crimes," indicated the guild leader.
Regarding the crime typology, he stated that cattle rustling mainly affects the Mulchén area. In frequency, thefts of supplies follow, where there is a chain that subsequently distributes the stolen products.
For Socabio, it is fundamental to generate police intelligence to detect who are the material authors of the thefts and, of course, who is commissioning the crimes.
EXPECTATIONS WITH THE NEW GOVERNMENT
Asked about expectations regarding the arrival of the new government, José Miguel Stegmeier indicated there is hope to reverse the situation. This is because one of the most important commitments assumed by the President-elect, José Antonio Kast, is related to security.
"I believe that, to a large extent, the new government won the election precisely with that argument. So, of course, security is fundamental and should not be only an urban issue," emphasized Stegmeier.
OBSERVATORY IN TWO STAGES
The Rural Crime Observatory is in its first stage of implementation, which seeks to understand the reality faced by the sector and the crimes with the greatest impact.
The second stage will begin in March, when a monthly analysis with the gathered data will start to be delivered, and field visits and presentations on security will begin.
Source:La Tribuna
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