In Central America, we conduct research in Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador.
In our research program in Central America we have analyzed reasons explaining the different development histories of the police in these three countries, and we have studied the peculiarities of the community-oriented policing programs established. A core aim is to establish what constitutes “legitimate” policing in the eyes of the citizenry in these countries, and why it has been difficult to sustain community-oriented policing programs at the national level.
Contributing staff
John-Andrew McNeish
led ICT4COP’s Work Package 9: Central America, carrying out field research in Nicaragua resulting in one published article. He also has contributed to Work Package 2: Comparative COP through writing a comparative article, and was a member of the project’s steering committee.
Arturo Matute
has contributed to ICT4COP’s Work Package 9: Central America through coordinated research in two very different municipalities of Guatemala: In highland, indigenous, strongly-organized Totonicapán, and in urban, disorderly, high-violence Villa Canales. Matute has used the data gathered through qualitative methods in workshops with experts, and in in-depth interviews with active and former security-sector authorities. The research has examined if community-oriented policing strategies open opportunities to forward police reform in the high-violence, low-trust, weak-institutions, post-conflict context of Guatemala.
Hugo Frühling
contributed to ICT4COP’s Work Package 9: Central America by preparing desk-based studies on Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua. He reviewed some of the articles prepared for the study and collaborated in the preparation of a literature review on trust, legitimacy, and police accountability.
Erika Rojas
contributed to ICT4COP’s Work Package 6: Gender and Work Package 9: Central America. As a member of these groups, she has participated in meetings and discussions, presented a paper at the ICT4COP panel at ISA 2018 in San Francisco, published an article about COP and gender in El Salvador, and collaborated in the writing of other articles.
Skarlleth Martínez Prado
contributed to ICT4COP’s Work Package 9: Central America as a research assistant. She assisted the work package leader with field and desk research in Nicaragua on cross-cutting themes including youth, gender, technology, and police training, and co-authored an article on community-based policing in Nicaragua.
