Luis Huerta, director in charge of Municipal Security of the Mayor’s Office of Panama, assured that the capital city will become the “stone in the shoe” of the “well-cared for” to prevent these people from usurping public spaces, to illegally charge the citizens for the use to park.
“You have to become the stone in their shoe, the more we bother them, it will not be profitable for them to do their work and if I have to take it 100 times to the justice of the peace, I will do it,” said Huerta.
According to Huerta, the problem of those who are well cared for “must be attacked at its root because we are not talking about people who do not have enough to eat, what happens is that these individuals are not going to get a job that gives them more (income) than that.”
Huerta’s reaction came after a well-groomed man tried to attack a municipal security guard whom he had asked to stop carrying out this work in the public space between Calle 35 and 36 of Via Justo Arosemena.
The attack against the municipal official went viral on social media.
“We are coordinating with the National Police to attend to this scourge; As seen in the video, we are facing a criminal and criminal attitude, ”he specified.
Huerta explains that the well-cared man believes he owns the corner and threatens individuals who use public places to park, “he believes that he is the owner and the guard is an abuser who does not have to prevent this practice,” he said.
According to Huerta, those who are well cared for are not homeless but criminals and this case before the municipal guard is “an example of this.”
Huerta explained that the municipal guards have been trained to deal with the police rod, however, they are not experts in self-defense.
“The most dangerous and difficult part is when the unit is subdued, he is afraid for his physical integrity, the training we give him is enough to handle the situation,” he explained.
“The vigilantes go through vigorous training, but they are not experts in self-defense, so we have to resort to reinforcement, which is what happened in this case,” he said.
The official pointed out that in this incident there were police units who provided help to the rest of the municipal surveillance units that came to attend to the event.
On the other hand, Huerta assured that the well kept he refused to undergo a medical examination and also refused to sign a statement that he was not mistreated.
“The person is in the hands of the justice of the peace who will determine the sanction for the attack on the unit and for exercising good care, which is an administrative offense and a type of extortion,” says Huerta.
