Colombia’s National Police declared an emergency and says it will
send a 1000 officials to Medellin to battle the ongoing crime in the
capital of Antioquia.
According to National Police Commissioner Oscar Naranjo said Medellin Police is now “in emergency to frontally attack crimes like murder, street attacks, robbery, assault and other things.”
Naranjo announced the development of a new strategy against the soaring murder rate and that authorities will analyze crime and the perception of security in Colombia’s second largest city.
Medellin has seen a sharp rise in homicides since the beginning of this year and, despite numerous efforts of authorities to curb the violence and influence of paramilitary groups and neighborhood militias, crime has continued to soar.
Last Wednesday, members of the Los Triana gang ordered shops to close in six neighborhoods in the north east of the city while one of their leaders was being buried. Police did not do anything to stop the “strike.”