Sunday, October 16, 2016 Vidal mixes old and new in police reformWith tackling crime as one of the main goals of her administration, Buenos Aires Governor María Eugenia Vidal has had to tread a fine line between continuity and turning the provincial police inside out since she was sworn-in in December. Plans to reform the Buenos Aires Penitentiary Service are also underway. Old habitsDespite the efforts at reform, it is clear that the Bonaerense has not completely won over the Vidal administration as officers from four federal security branches have been set aside to be dispatched to Greater Buenos Aires and Mar del Plata in the coming days amid concerns over growing violence and drug-trafficking. Vidal did replace Hugo Matzkin, the former head of the police, with Pablo Bressi — a Bonaerense insider who had been in charge of the drug trafficking unit before his promotion. The provincial administration vowed to investigate Bressi and so far has said that it has found no evidence of wrongdoing, ensuring that in the first face-off between politics and the police, Vidal sided with her top cop.

Source: Bueno Aires Herald October 16, 2016 04:52 UTC