The killing of a Chilean diplomat’s teenage daughter by police is reigniting concerns among Venezuelans about excessive force used by officers and their frequent involvement in violent crimes.
Nineteen-year-old Karen Berendique was riding in a vehicle with her older brother and another young man when police at an unmarked checkpoint opened fire early Saturday in the western city of Maracaibo, said her father Fernando Berendique, Chile’s honorary consul in the city.
He said they disobeyed a police command to stop, fearing the officers might be robbers.
Twelve police officers were detained and are under investigation, the Justice Ministry said.
Radio program host Beatriz Navas said yesterday the case reinforces deep concerns many Venezuelans have about police misconduct.
“I wouldn’t have stopped and they would have killed me, too,” Navas said. “The problem is that we don’t believe in the police.”
She criticised the widespread practice by police in Venezuela of setting up such checkpoints, saying officers should instead be investigating crimes.
President Hugo Chavez’s government expressed condolences to the family as well as to the Chilean government, and pledged that those responsible will face justice.
“We reject and repudiate this type of bad police practice,” judicial police chief Jose Humberto Ramirez said.
He said the officers were in the area to investigate car thefts and hadn’t set up cones as police typically do for checkpoints. Ramirez called the shooting inexplicable.
“They’ll have to respond in criminal court,” Ramirez said.
Violent crime is widespread in the country, which has one of the highest murder rates in Latin America.
Venezuelans have long been distrustful of the police. The government began building a new national police force in 2009, saying it was part of an effort to professionalize the police.
Justice Ministry Tareck El Aissami said in 2009 that the authorities believed police were involved in 15 to 20 percent of all crimes, particularly kidnappings and murders.
The Justice Ministry said in a statement Saturday that the government will “continue promoting the radical transformation of police forces, deepening the implementation of the new police model: human and professional.”
Opposition politicians joined in the criticism over Berendique’s killing.
“They shoot first and aim later,” Ricardo Sanchez, an opposition lawmaker, said at a news conference yesterday.
He said that many questions remain about the behavior of the officers who opened fire on the Chevrolet TrailBlazer and that police officials should be summoned for questioning before the National Assembly.
