New Interior Minister Faride Raful to focus on modernization, training, community engagement

Santo Domingo.- Faride Raful, the new Minister of Interior and Police, took office with a commitment to focus on modernizing security, promoting community participation in maintaining order, strengthening interagency coordination and optimizing services.

Regarding security, Raful highlighted the importance of using “technological tools to enhance response capabilities by interconnecting the various security and law enforcement agencies for prevention and enforcement across the country.”

When it comes to community-based order building, she emphasized the development of “social engagement and education programs through neighborhood associations, sports clubs, community organizations, churches, etc.,” with the goal of ensuring that “society feels that from this ministry, security is something we all build together.”

On service efficiency, she promised to work hard to reduce wait times, eliminate intermediaries, and cut bureaucratic hurdles. She also stressed that her priority is to ensure that every eligible Dominican receives a prompt and high-quality response.

In terms of effective interagency coordination, Raful explained that this involves promoting a strong policy of crime prevention, working in collaboration with institutions like the National Police, the Public Prosecutor’s Office, and the General Directorate of Migration. She also emphasized the need for trained and highly skilled personnel.

Raful shared her goals via her X account, after being welcomed by the ministry’s employees early in the morning on her first Monday in office.

This reflects her approach to tackling the challenges related to the country’s internal security, a critical public policy area for Dominicans.

After her swearing-in on Friday, Minister Raful immediately got to work. On Saturday, she held organizational meetings within the ministry, and on Sunday, she traveled to Samaná to personally oversee the response to a fire at a hardware store, where, unfortunately, two people lost their lives.