Dominican Opposition Group AVANCEMOS Calls for Police Leadership Retirement and 1% GDP Funding for Security

The political organization AVANCEMOS has asked President Luis Abinader to retire the senior command staff of the Dominican Republic’s National Police and to allocate roughly 1 % of the country’s Gross Domestic Product to public‑security spending. AVANCEMOS leader Carlos Amarante Baret argued that genuine police reform is impossible without guaranteeing a dignified profession, retirement benefits, health, housing and education for officers, noting that the current investment of 8.369 billion pesos over two years is insufficient.

Amarante also criticised the existing system of rewards and sanctions, describing it as a “funnel” that fails to hold senior officers accountable, and stressed that the police should not be treated as a military force. He said the reform would require an investment of between 80 billion and 120 billion pesos (about 1 %‑1.5 % of GDP) to be effective.