Modernisation of the police force.
After appointing a new police chief, President Sebastian Pinera, who took office on March 11, aims to implement the most far-reaching modernisation of the country’s uniformed police force since the restoration of democracy in 1990. This follows the discovery of a major internal fraud and accusations of the planting of false evidence.
Future opinion polls will indicate the extent to which public trust in police has been undermined by recent scandals.
Police legitimacy will matter if, as expected, there are significant street demonstrations against the new centre-right government.
Better intelligence, distinguishing between indigenous activism and for-profit crime, would help to counter violence in southern Chile.
