OIJ Directors Threatens
To Quit For Lack of
Funds
Jorge Rojas Vargas, the
director of the
Organismo de
Investigación Judicial (OIJ),
has threatened to resign
his post in December if
the police
organizationdoes not
more money for its
operations.
"The OIJ has been
stagnant for many years.
It has not grown because
resources are thin",
said the head of
investigative branch of
the police.
Rojas made his decision
public during a press
conference where he
detailed the number of
assualts in San José to
be 3.579 during January
and August of this year.
"We can only investigate
that number of crimes.
We ask the people to
file complaints but no
one can feel sage in
such circumstances",
said Rojas.
Rojas added that the OIJ
only has 300 vehicles,
an insufficient number
to complete its duties
in all parts of the
country.
Rojas has been very
vocal over the years on
the lack of funding for
the police unit to do
its job, feeling that
his voice has fallen on
deaf ears, assuring that
the OIJ has not thrown
in the town against
crime, but is urging
that the police unit
needs more money to
continue to progress.
Rojas did not specify
how much money the OIJ
needs, reminding that it
only has 1.000
investigators when it
really needs at least
twice as many to handle
the case load and in the
face of the increased
crime in the country.
The OIJ head, as an
example, assured that in
San José alone there are
on average 444 armed
assaults and there is
not enough staff to
handle all cases.
According to Roajs,
there are only four
agents to attend to home
assaults - 212 - and 14
to handle the 2.293
street assaults
registered in the first
eight months of this
year.
Rojas was firm that if
there is no answer to
his pleases, he will be
retiring in January.
However, the Rojas
decision was not shared
by the head of the
Supreme Court, Luis
Paulino Mora, who said
that the threat is no
way to solve the
problems.
The magistrate said that
Rojas should understand
that the Poder Judicial
has to fund only the OIJ,
but the prosecutors,
judges, public defenders
and has to find
resources for all. |
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