QCOSTARICA – The Minister of Security, Jorge Torres, sent a message to his police officials demonstrating in the streets of the plan that would temporarily change their work schedule to six days on and four days off, in an effort to have more police presence in the streets to face the increase in criminality in the last several months.

Off-duty police officials of the Fuerza Publica protesting this Friday morning in the area of San Pedro.

The officials are being asked, well ordered, to work the 6 x 4 instead of the current four days on, three days off (4 x 3), and “do their part”.

The minister also assured that he is open to dialogue with the representatives of the different groups against the plan and stressed that the plan is a “temporary measure”.

As part of the plan, ‘Costa Rica Segura’, the government chose to increase the police presence in the streets of the country.

This demonstrations this Friday were reported in different parts of the country such as on Ruta 32, San Pedro and near the Juan Santamaría Airport.

The government also intends to increase the hiring of officers, for which it will also present an extraordinary budget to the Legislature.

The decision of the new work schedule was announced Wednesday by Torres, as Costa Rica is experiencing a wave of violence, with more than 260 homicides so far in 2023, and the predictions are that by the end of the year there will be more than 900, most of them associated with drug trafficking and the fight of criminal gangs for territories and settling of scores.