by Rod Hughes

New Minister of Public Security Janina del Vecchio, who took over her law enforcement duties from Vice President Laura Chinchilla yesterday, told a press conference that crime in the country “isn’t as bad as she expected to find it,” after being prepped for her new job. Unlike Chinchilla, who filled the job on a pro tem basis after Fernando Berrocal’s sudden resignation, del Vecchio has no prior experience in police work. (See newsfeed 1660 for background.)

At the news conference, the new minister was flanked by OIJ (Judicial Investigation) chief Jorge Rojas and Francisco Dall’Anese, the vigorous Chief Prosecutor, the daily La Nacion reported today. Del Vecchio said that it was “perceived by Costa Ricans that…the violence in crimes are increasingly higher. It’s certain that the perception of insecurity is higher than the insecurity itself. That’s the reality.” The new minister pointed out that this country is rated the fourth most secure nation in Latin America and stated her aim to make it the safest in the world.

She wasted no time in making a minor shakeup in her ministry, naming Erick Lacayo to replace Fabio Pizarro as director of all police forces. The latter, informed of his reassignment to another post by Deputy Minister Gerardo Lascarez, immediately resigned, La Nacion reported. “Costa Rica needs concrete actions and decisions. We should not be alarmed,” said del Vecchio, a former mathematics teacher. She appeal for calm to let the police get on with their jobs.

But Rojas of OIJ, a professional with several years in his current post, was not so sure that del Vecchio was not painting over the seriousness of the problem. He told La Nacion after the conference that, “Costa Rica, obviously, has a serious security problem and we must not compare ourselves to anyone… People don’t feel safe in their cars or walking down the street lest they be carjacked or robbed of cell phone or billfold.” He pointed out that San Jose had suffered 57 murders so far this year, the same number that had had taken until August to accumulate last year.

Rojas is not the only one who fears that complacency may lose the battle against crime. The English-language weekly The Tico Times blasted the Legislative Assembly for inaction in passing crime bills in an editorial two weeks ago. The editorial writer grimly pointed out that lawmakers were taking their time with the Comprehensive Crime Bill, a funding bill to improve OIJ and the Immigration Reform Bill and noted that in recent years deputies had let four other significant bills die without a vote.

(Rojas, Chinchilla and Dall’Anese all were co-authors of the comprehensive crime legislation that plugs holes in criminal codes that causes organized crime to thumb its nose at prosecution attempts.)