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Thefts in the TransMilenio transport system have been falling significantly so far this year, according to figures managed by the Ministry of Security.
Although a good part of this positive behavior is due to the effects of the pandemic, which forced the city to shut itself down and has TM operating below its total capacity, they also have to do with the actions that the authorities have implemented, and which were reinforced yesterday.
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Last February, the mayor herself, Claudia López, in the company of her Secretary of Security, Hugo Acero, and the Bogotá Metropolitan Police, announced that 50 motorized vehicles would begin to travel the trunk lines and that undercover agents would be available.
Today, 10 months later, the figures support this intervention. Between January and the first week of November this year there was a 64 percent reduction in the number of thefts in the transportation system. While in 2019 during that period 16,083 cases were registered, this year they were 5,869.
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However, recent events, such as the murder of Oswaldo Muñoz, a citizen who was a passenger in an articulated bus; or the robbery of a Bogotá collection official at the Ciudad Universitaria station, who was wounded with a sharp weapon, forced the authorities to reinforce their plan.
This will consist, among others, of the arrival of 100 uniformed men, who will make permanent tours of stations and portals. María Fernanda Ortiz, manager (e) of TransMilenio, affirmed that 17,000 cameras are available on the buses, 2,000 in the system to ensure the safety of users, as well as more than 1,200 guards and 153 mediators.
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For his part, Hugo Acero, Secretary of Security, pointed out that together with the authorities, reaction and control operations have been intensified in recent weeks in buses, stations and stops against criminal acts with good results.
For example, eight criminal groups dedicated to theft were dismantled and 366 arrests were made, seven by court order and 359 in flagrante delicto. Two of these bands were known as ‘the K’ and ‘Fénix Admon’. It was made up of 12 people and they would be involved in 20 criminal acts.
Colonel José Óscar Jaramillo, commander of the TransMilenio Police, explained that from now on the searches will be not only at static points such as stations and portals, but also on buses and in the system’s surroundings.
“We are working hand in hand with the Secretariat of Security and the Bogotá Police to reinforce security in TransMilenio, more than 100 police officers arrive to join the more than 600 who circulate in TM to carry out operations at strategic points,” said María Fernanda Ortiz, general manager (e) in charge of TransMilenio.
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BOGOTA
