With 47 years of age and more than 20 years in his career with the police, Marco Aurelio Barrantes, from Puriscal, assumed his position as police chief of the Nandayure Public Force delegation on March 16th.
In 1998, he took on his first role as chief of the Santa Ana police station in San Jose, and since then he has filled that role at several police stations, including Alajuelita, Aserri, Pavas and most recently, in 2014, in Curridabat.
Although he says he has gone from Hell to paradise because of the relative safety experienced in Nandayure compared with other towns, Barrantes says he won’t drop his guard with regards to prevention.
“The essence of the Public Force is prevention. It is not true that with more police officers, we have more security, but instead with greater prevention, there are fewer crimes. For us, it is vital to reach out to the community because these are the people that know and are well aware of the problems facing their community,” Barrantes commented.
Barrantes highlighted the work of training being done in elementary and high schools through talks and games like “Pinta Seguro” (Paint Safe), in which children learn safe habits by painting and drawing.
The Nandayure station houses 12 police officers, three radio patrol units and five motorcycles and receives support from the canine unit from the Municipality of Santa Cruz, especially for tracking psychotropic drugs.
“No police can work alone. The community should see the police as one more member and that we are here to serve people and institutions. We want this canton to stay beautiful like it is now and to that end, we need everyone’s support,” Barrantes said.
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