The Colombian national police have stepped up security and increased police numbers to ensure the smooth running of Sunday’s elections.
This is the first phase of a carefully orchestrated approach, which will culminate in the deployment of 165,000 men and women at over 85,000 polling stations throughout the country.
In the last few hours 12,218 support troops have been deployed to strengthen the security presence across Colombia’s 23 departments. The national government, election officials and security forces have worked together to identify 67 municipalities which they have identified as high risk. These municipalities will receive additional security and support, as part of police efforts to ensure the smooth running of a day which has traditionally been plagued by high tension and violence.
As part of these efforts, the Strategic Police Information Center (CIEP) was created to coordinate police deployment, provide public information, and to ensure the safety of voters. The National Police Information System of Plan Democracy (SIPDE) has also been created to gather information and to provide protection for official websites which contain sensitive information.
The police will also enforce increased firearm restrictions in Bogota, which will be in place from Saturday evening until 6AM Monday morning after the election.
A total of 100,177 candidates will compete for a wide range of political posts throughout the country.