Playa Hermosa News May 2012

Here is the Playa Hermosa News May 2012…

The Playa Hermosa Association is planning a fundraiser dance toward the end of July with “50-60s music”.  Details to follow…. 

The Municipality of Carrillo has offered a full time employee for Maritime Zone maintenance!(beach) He is currently working full time (Monday through Saturday) de 7 a.m.-3 p.m.

The Asociacion de Playa Hermosa recently met with representatives from the Policia Turistica of Costa Rica (Ministerio de Seguridad Publica). Señores Jorge Rodriguez (Subdirector of the Turistic Police) and Luis Chavarria were invited by our Streets Committee chairperson, J. P. Miller, to attend our April Board meeting to answer questions certain members had with respect to trying to get a 24/7 police presence here on Playa Hermosa. What follows is a summary of that meeting.

Policia Turistica:

• The Policia Turistica currently has 19 practicing student police officers.
• They have a total of 90 police officers in the province of Guanacaste dispatched to Nosara, Samara, Flamingo, Portrero, Grande, Conchal, Tamarindo, etc.
• Of those 90, there are 35 policeman on duty at any given time during their rotation.
• The Policia Turistica has 22 motorcycles, 2 vehicles (cars), and 1 Mini-bus.
• ICT has given a directive to the Policia Turistica to find a location for a police station that will serve an area from the airport (LIR) to the northern beaches of Carrillo. The Las Trancas road is the favored site for a police station because it’s about half-way between the airport and the beaches, which is more favorable for distribution of police coverage. The ICT has agreed to both purchase the land and pay for building the police station once a sale has been executed.
• Many people ask, “Why aren’t there police stations in every town along the coast?” Señor Jorge Rodriguez stated that the answer to the question is quite simple. “A policeman on the street is far more effective than one manning a police station.” In other words, a central command station would allow for more police to be present on the street than if multiple stations needed to be manned/staffed. That’s why the Policia Turistica are looking for a centrally located site to build a station where they can optimize their police coverage of northern Guanacaste.
• Authority: The Policia Turistica has the same authority as the Fuerza Publica. They can detain and arrest people, they carry firearms and may use them. The only difference is that the Policia Turistica are trained especially for situations involving tourists, such as theft of identification documents (passports, driver’s licenses, I. D. cards, credit cards) and for dealing with personal injuries where foreign insurance coverage and notification of next of kin are involved. Some people falsely believe that the Policia Turistica have limited powers of jurisdiction. The truth is that they may enforce the law same as any other policeman in Costa Rica.
• Dialing the Policia Turistica direct is NOT the best way to receive assistance in the case of an emergency. Dialing 911 is the best way to get help. Guanacaste is the only province in the country that has 24/7 help! When you dial 911, the 911 center notifies the Ministerio de Salud; then the appropriate authority(ies) are notified (OIJ, MOPT, Fuerza Publica, Ambulance, etc.) and dispatched based on the situation.