Bernardo Bátiz V.
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hen the flies bite us and they ring around the ears, what do we do? We take the fly swatter, we chase them away, we throw insecticide into the air, even though this poses a risk to pets and pet owners. With all that, we achieved a little peace, but we did not end the plague; To put an end to it, it is not enough to chase the mosquitoes, because others will return, if we do not take the measure of drying the puddle from which they emerge and in which they reproduce; Everyone knows that where there is stagnant water, large or small puddles, half dirty or very dirty, there will also be the annoying pest that helps me start this collaboration.
An evil does not end if its causes are not fought; What I want to refer to today is violence, crime that is fought but not exterminated; Prosecutors investigate crimes when they have already been committed and judges issue sentences after months and sometimes years and sometimes decades, because the procedures are complicated and very long; In the best of cases, the prosecution manages to prove the criminal acts and the responsibility of the accused, but all this is a posterioriwhen the damage, the effect of the punishable act, took place and the sometimes irreparable effects were already caused.
Without a doubt, the duty of the State is to prosecute crime, combat violence and insecurity; A political organization, a modern State, is not justified if it does not have a legal and police apparatus to provide security and maintain order. As is known, security and order are, along with justice, the specific purposes of law and therefore of the State.
What happens is that, if we focus on investigating, arresting the alleged culprits and bringing them before the judge, we are acting like someone who kills mosquitoes with their hands, when they see them flying or when they have just bitten us; that is, to past bull
And what I want to highlight is that this, the prosecution of crimes, is never enough to justify the actions of the State and the demands of citizens. Along with the sanction, preventive action is essential, trying to prevent crimes from being committed. It is not only about persecuting and punishing, but also about preventing, drying up the puddle. I am not saying that antisocial acts should not be punished when they have already been committed, but it must be made clear that this will not be enough; To get closer to the security and peace that we long for, without abandoning persecutory and sanctioning actions, we must avoid the causes and circumstances that encourage or allow the commission of illicit actions.
Crimes do not arise by spontaneous generation, they require a favorable environment that favors them and makes them possible; a social and economic and even cultural environment in which one has the feeling and is made to think that impunity is possible or at least one is allowed to assume that it will be so.
This reflection and proposal is not new. It has been said and written that the number of police officers can be multiplied; their weapons can be more effective and their agents very well trained; We can increase the years in prison for those who commit crimes and build many model prisons, where isolation is greater and security is extreme, but it will not be enough; If we do not combat the causes that cause them or prohibit them, crimes will continue to be committed. It is a tweezer: on the one hand, the prosecution of crimes must continue, but on the other hand, it is essential to prevent by creating environments that socially hinder or prevent insecurity and violence.
There are two types of preventive actions. One is of a material nature: it involves avoiding urban or rural spaces that are conducive to hiding, where it is not possible to provide help or where there are no witnesses; Prevention is then avoiding hiding places such as nooks or solitary spaces. To achieve this, preventive measures correspond to the municipal authorities; sufficient and permanent public lighting is necessary, clearing the streets of obstacles and nooks, organizing permanent preventive surveillance, also eliminating places where people can escape quickly or hide easily.
This type of prevention is necessary and its results can be verified immediately; Municipal governments and administrative authorities are the ones who must take charge.
There is another type of basic and more effective prevention based on education and the promotion of social activities, mainly creating generalized opinions that condemn criminals and do not turn them into models for young people.
This type of prevention corresponds to both the State and society; Action must be taken, on the one hand, to encourage social virtues, such as solidarity and social justice, and, on the other, to provide quality education, spaces for recreation, art, culture and other activities that enhance coexistence and harmony. human quality.
