Policing in Cuba - some casual observations

I had an enlightening and educational tour of Cuba in April with a ‘people to people’ Smithsonian group.  I was very impressed with the tour, organization and steadfast attention to keeping it educational.  The police operation was not a feature of this trip, but I was able to make some observations during our travels.  We spent about half of the time in Havana and the other half about three hours south on the coast in Cienfuegos and Trinidad.

My two main observations were that the police presence was much less obvious than in the USA, Puerto Rico and my recent trip to Mexico City.  The officers also were much less militant in appearance.  The officers I observed were not wearing combat vests and appeared to be carrying only a sidearm, reserve ammo, handcuffs and a baton.  Now I realize this is still a communist country and guns are not readily available.

Outside of Cienfuegos we were hosted at a block party in a neighborhood adjacent to a power plant.  We were late arriving, yet the nearly 100 persons of all ages were waiting and were very hospitable.  Hugo Chavez of Venezuela built this subdivision of 100 homes in 2007.  These are the poor, rural people of Cuba who have been devastated by the policy of both of our governments.  The meeting was organized by the local CDR (Committee for the Defense of the Revolution). 

I spoke with the Director of Ideology and Safety about crime.  Apparently they have very little in this subdivision, but then there’s someone always looking at the goings on.  He said that a representative from the local police station came to their monthly meetings and discussed other crime and law enforcement issues and that the relationship was good.  The subdivision had given one of its units to a police officers who now was retired.  I assumed it was similar to our community oriented policing.

We talked with about 12 youngsters from ages 5 to 9.  Most wanted to go to university, but two young boys were hell-bent on being “police officers.”  There was an obvious pride in their desires.

The only real policing efforts I observed were traffic enforcement by motor cops on the highways (all in terrible condition) and at night in downtown Havana.  I was riding in one of those 1950s convertibles that are privately owned for taxi service.  The young man who owned the car, a cherry Oldsmobile with original engine and transmission, said that he felt the cops hassled him on traffic stops.  They would make these stops on trivial issues knowing the operator had money from the tourists.  Usually he was able to get out of the ticket with a small bribe to the officer.  Unless the person is in private business, the government worker gets only the equivalent of $20 a month.

Cuba is on the cusp of facing radical changes with the warming of relations with the US.  Cruise ships will be on the horizon.  The government is in the process of converting its money to one system from the current two.  More and more Cubans are starting their own businesses, currently most are restaurants (paladares) and renting rooms to tourists.  The real Internet hasn’t arrived yet!  Unfortunately the Cuban government isn’t prepared to this type of rapid change.  Hopefully, the common people will be.