In Herrera they prefer to put up gates to protect themselves from thieves and not report them “because reports are ignored”

Santo Domingo—Overcome by fear and anger at the authorities’ indifference, some residents, including Herrera and Santo Domingo Oeste residents, said they felt unprotected against the crime that affected their area.

The narrow streets surrounded by establishments witness the alterations that this sector’s residents go through daily.

“People get mugged here, and they prefer to put irons in their hands rather than go to the Police to report it because no one pays attention to them. Justice is supposed to be there to support the people, that you sit down to file a complaint. Still, it is not like that,” said a mother who works in a hardware store as a merchandise dispatcher and, fearing reprisals that could be taken against her after this complaint, preferred to omit her identity.

Michael Feliz, who a month ago was the victim of a robbery at six o’clock in the afternoon while he was out to throw away some garbage, is also a victim of this feeling.

Feliz said that at that time, he was robbed of a cell phone, and that fateful experience left him with a fear that persisted when he walked the streets where he had lived all his life.

Miguel Polanco also lives in the area and said that although he has not been a victim of robbery, he has witnessed how the criminals attack their victims.

The increased police surveillance has not intimidated the criminals.
Residents live like prisoners due to the increase in robberies in El Primaveral.
On the opposite sidewalk, where a lottery bank is located, Wendy Fernandez said she prefers to work on that corner than to be “stuck in the bank and be a victim of robbers.”

Polanco said that she had to leave her old job because she was frequently assaulted when she left her house early in the morning, and although she used to carry only her clothes in her backpack, the constant assaults forced her to look for another job.

The feeling of anger is the same on Mexico Street in the Buenos Aries sector. There, José Rodríguez and Galva Reyes said that their neighbor had stolen his computer and car battery six days ago, and “now he is looking for a way to replace them.”

“Crime is over in the brains of those who manipulate the surveys,” said Galva Reyes, who for more than 20 years has been dedicated to selling mattresses in the area.

“REDUCTION OF DELINQUENCY”
While the complaints about the fear generated by insecurity in several demarcations of Greater Santo Domingo do not cease, the National Police continues to highlight the positive results of the regular meetings of the Citizen Security Plan.

“The National Police welcomes the results presented at the last meeting of the Citizen Security Plan, in which the reduction of robberies was evidenced,” said the spokesman of the National Police, Colonel Rafael Tejeda Baldera, in recent days.

Tejeda Baldera offered these words to reporters of Listin Diario in response to the denunciations of citizens who affirm that they “live in a torment because of insecurity”.

In addition, Baldera assured that the Police have not registered negative variations in the heat map, showing the crime rates in the country’s communities.

Likewise, the Minister of the Presidency, Joel Santos, said without specifying in which localities the statistics of robberies in the country have been reduced, concerning 2023, to 11 %.