Policía Nacional Bolivariana (Bolivarian National Police, PNB) is Venezuela's national police force, created in 2009. Law enforcement in Venezuela has historically been highly fragmented, and the creation of a National Police was one of the recommendations of a 2006 National Commission on Police Reform (CONAREPOL). As per the CONAREPOL recommendations, the PNB works with local communal councils and is intended to respect human rights in a way Venezuelan police often have not.[1] At the time the force was set up, the wage rate for officers in the new force was three times higher than that in existing forces.[2]
Initially active in parts of Caracas, the first six months of operations saw falls of around 60% in rates of murder and robbery in the areas the PNB was active.[1] As of July 2010, the PNB had around 2,400 officers, with a further 1,400 in training.[1]
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In 2006 a National Commission on Police Reform (CONAREPOL, from the Spanish name) conducted studies aimed at reforming the police, in consultation with police and local communities.[3] It found that
"Careful study of the different police agencies makes it evident that many do not have adequate infrastructure, and they are lacking in basic services or the spaces that are necessary for police activities (e.g., holding cells). In other cases, they do not even have their own building. Higher level technological resources (phones, fax, internet connection, computers, software) are relatively rare or, if present, are found only at central headquarters. Lack of, or deficiencies in, infrastructure are most marked for the municipal police.… [T]he majority of [all] police agencies are unable to assign a firearm to each officer on duty; neither are there sufficient handcuffs or bullet-proof vests. Some agencies have only one firearm for the whole force."[4]
In general, the Commission found, "bureaucracy is weakly developed: three-quarters of state and municipal forces do not have a manual for procedures and two-thirds lack an organizational manual".[5]
In November 2008 a Commission for the Police System (Comsipol) was created to implement CONAREPOL's recommendations. These included the creation of a National Police, which was done in 2009. Other recommendations were that the police should be specifically trained in human rights, and have a greater emphasis on crime prevention.[6] The Experimental Security University was set up to provide such training.