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Edition: U.S. Article Comments (0) Save Email Print Reprints Most Popular Most Shared God did not create the universe, says Hawking 02 Sep 2010 God did not create the universe, says Hawking 02 Sep 2010 Sofia Coppola takes insider's look at Hollywood A-lister 9:08am EDT UPDATE 3-Hurricane Earl swipes U.S. east but no big hit 11:38am EDT Heavy in dollars, China warns of depreciation 8:34am EDT Common bone drugs linked to esophageal cancer risk 02 Sep 2010 Private hiring surprises with 67,000 new jobs | Video 11:10am EDT Eastern Atlantic depression could head for Caribbean | Video 01 Sep 2010 Drug shootout with army kills 25 in Mexico 12:01am EDT Hurricane Earl swipes U.S. east but no big hit | Video 11:43am EDT God did not create the universe, says Hawking 02 Sep 2010 God did not create the universe, says Hawking 02 Sep 2010 Common bone drugs linked to esophageal cancer risk 02 Sep 2010 Special Report: Outgunned FDA tries to get tough with drug ads 8:55am EDT Apple TV could help Netflix growth 02 Sep 2010 Heavy in dollars, China warns of depreciation 8:34am EDT Photo focus: Behind the lens 17 Aug 2010 Best of Venice film fest 02 Sep 2010 Strange and unusual 26 Aug 2010 Israel and Palestinians agree to more peace meetings | Video 8:28am EDT NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. NASDAQ delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here. Venezuela's rife crime political peril for Chavez Tweet This Share on LinkedIn Share on Facebook Related News Chavez defends his record on crime in Venezuela Thu, Sep 2 2010 Venezuela hunger striker's death angers Chavez foes Tue, Aug 31 2010 Clash mars Venezuela election campaign start Wed, Aug 25 2010 Mexicans mourn mayor, government vows crackdown Thu, Aug 19 2010 Body of kidnapped mayor dumped in northern Mexico Thu, Aug 19 2010 Analysis & Opinion Afghanistan and America’s troubled backyard Related Topics World » Aerial view of Venezuela's bigest slum of Petare in Caracas September 1, 2010. Credit: Reuters/Jorge Silva By Frank Jack Daniel CARACAS | Fri Sep 3, 2010 11:33am EDT CARACAS (Reuters) - Children tussle after dark on a dusty soccer field used just weeks ago as a shooting range by local drug gangs, a sign that a new police force is making a mark on one of Venezuela's most violent slums. Under a system influenced by Northern Ireland's Police Service, policemen now patrol the tangled alleys of the Catia neighborhood night and day, using community-focused policing to gather tips about local criminals who menace residents. "After 6 p.m., this was basically under curfew," said 40-year-old local resident Rocio Barrios. "These kids should be in their homes now because it's late, but they are not in danger. We no longer feel in danger." Stacked toward the Caribbean Sea on steep hillsides in western Caracas, Catia and the surrounding area are home to around 400,000 people. It is one of the crime-wracked capital's most notorious barrios. Opposition parties have put the soaring national murder rate seen under President Hugo Chavez squarely at the heart of their campaign for September 26 legislative elections in which they expect to slash the socialist's parliamentary majority. With one of the world's highest homicide rates, violent crime is the top concern of Venezuelans, polls show. The government has not published official murder figures for several years. Nongovernmental organizations, citing leaked police statistics and media reports, say that between 13,000 and 16,000 people were killed last year. Chavez denied on Thursday that Venezuela was high on the list of most dangerous countries, but did not give statistics. Two years ago, the opposition won an election for mayor over Chavez's candidate in Petare, another slum neighborhood traditionally loyal to the president, in which rampant crime played a role. The opposition hopes to repeat that success. The campaign opened in August with a ghoulish photo of corpses piled up in Caracas's city morgue, splashed on the front page of opposition newspaper El Nacional. A court later ordered the newspaper not to print more gory pictures. 'A POLITICAL BANNER' The government says the new National Police project disproves opposition claims that Chavez and his lawmakers have done nothing to combat crime. According to Luis Fernandez, director of the National Police, media attention has created a perception of violence much higher than the reality. "The theme has been exaggerated. The issue of security has been taken as a political banner during the electoral process," he told journalists last week during a visit to Catia. Fernandez said murder rates in the neighborhood had dropped by more than half to 17.6 per 100,000 inhabitants, from 49.6, before the new force hit the streets. Like other officials, however, he said he could not give national crime figures. "I am glad to say we have achieved these results without firing a single bullet," Fernandez said. "We want to extend this reduction in crime to the rest of Caracas and Venezuela." Although the force appears well designed, it is limited to Catia and the city's subway system. It will not cover all of Caracas until next year, too late to benefit Chavez in this election but maybe in time for the 2012 presidential race. "I see the National Police as a bright spot in a generally grim situation," said David Smilde, a sociologist from the University of Georgia in the United States. But Smilde said it is too early to say if the political will existed in Venezuela to see it through. "The entire project could be derailed in any number of ways," he said. Before the police reached her neighborhood last month, Barrios said some weeks she did not send her teenage daughter to school for fear she would be hit by a stray bullet. "It was not good. She was shut up at home and would tell me she wanted to move house. I have nowhere to go," she said. Now, police are highly visible and residents seem relaxed, chatting on their doorsteps after dark. So far, most of the police on patrol are former members of Caracas's Municipal Police (PM), associated in the minds of many with brutality and corruption. To move to the better paid, equipped and educated National Police, applicants must undergo three months of retraining, in part given by human rights activists at a new security university run by an activist against police brutality. "It was tough at first," said one senior officer, who asked not to be identified. "It's a different way of doing things." A fifth of all crimes in Venezuela are committed by the police, according to Interior Minister Tareck Al Aissami, a situation that the new force has been mandated to change. Totally new recruits will not enter the National Police force until completing a three-year training course aimed at giving them a university-level education. (Editing by Daniel Wallis and Will Dunham) World Add a Comment *We welcome comments that advance the story directly or with relevant tangential information. We try to block comments that use offensive language or appear to be spam and review comments frequently to ensure they meet our standards. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. © Copyright 2010 Thomson Reuters Editorial Editions: Africa Arabic Argentina Brazil Canada China France Germany India Italy Japan Latin America Mexico Russia Spain United Kingdom United States Reuters Contact Us Advertise With Us Help Journalism Handbook Archive Site Index Video Index Reader Feedback Mobile Newsletters RSS Podcasts Widgets Your View Analyst Research Thomson Reuters Copyright Disclaimer Privacy Professional Products Professional Products Support Financial Products About Thomson Reuters Careers Online Products Acquisitions Monthly Buyouts Venture Capital Journal International Financing Review Project Finance International PEhub.com PE Week FindLaw Reuters on Facebook Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests. NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.

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