Dominican Republic Police Train to Tackle Disappearances and Trafficking

The National Police and the Public Ministry of the Dominican Republic organized a specialized training session titled “Seconds that Save Lives” at the Instituto Policial de Educación Superior (IPES). The program focused on strengthening agents’ abilities to investigate disappearances, human trafficking, and the use of the National Alerts System (AlertaRD), emphasizing rapid response during the first critical hours.

Participants included police cadets, graduate students, and officials from the Directorate of Central Investigation (DICRIM), the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office against Illicit Migration and Trafficking (PETT), and representatives of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Speakers such as magistrate Johana Bejarán, Colonel Francia Hernández, and UNODC project officer Lissette Reyes presented protocols for first‑responder actions, evidence preservation, risk assessment, and inter‑institutional coordination to improve case outcomes.