OIJ Without The
Necessary Personnel,
Official Says
One of the major
problems facing the
Organismo de
Investigación Judicial (OIJ)
is the lack of personnel
to handle the increased
work load, where each
OIJ agent has to deal
with more than 100 cases
a year.
According to official
reports, the OIJ lacks
at least 1.000
investigators to deal
with all the cases,
meaning investigations
fall behind and cases
take longer to clear.
The sub-director of the
oIJ, Carlos Morera, says
it all makes no sense.
The OIJ currently
employees 900 officials,
the majority working in
San José, receiving some
25.000 cases a year, 70%
of which are for assault
and vehicle theft.
The OIJ offices in
Heredia, Alajuela, San
Carlos, Puntarenas,
Quepos and Limón are the
worst off, where agents
just keep "piling up"
the cases on their
desks.
Morera said that in some
cases the OIJ
delegations are working
in the poorest of
conditions, like that of
Heredia, where the
investigators work out
of the basement of the
court house, where not
only space is tight, but
the fumes from the
vehicles outside are
affecting their health.
Morera added that the
OIJ does not have the
budget to employ more
investigators that are
"urgently" needed,
saying that this year
there was money for only
108 jobs.
To bring the point home,
the Heredia delegation
receives some 5.000 new
cases a year that are
handled by only 35
investigators, which
means an average of 142
cases per investigator.
The same is true in
Limón, where 34 agents
handle some 2.500 cases
per year. Limón, the
most violent region in
the country, with 18
murders up to June,
has only 2 murder
investigators.
"It must be recognized
that all our units and
delegations need more
people, it is a fact,
but there is no money",
said Morera.
According to Morero, San
Carlos is another
delegation that is fast
falling behind, as it
deals with some 2.400
cases a year and the
only delegation at the
charge of a woman,
Nieves Rueda, it counts
with only 24
investigators. |
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