Is it difficult to compare the cases of police reform in different Latin American cities?
One can assess their similarities and differences. The challenge is really to define the criteria of the comparison, for example: the process by which personnel is selected, characteristics of the internal disciplinary system (civil or military), training, the governmental body responsible for each specific police force, functions, etc. Is it possible to identify points of similarity between the Carabineros in Chile and the police forces of Bogota and Cali, for example? Without going into too much detail, I would say that there are two main differences between the situation in Chile and that of the two Colombian cities you mentioned. The Carabineros in Chile constitute a centralized police force that is in no way subordinate to the mayor. This is not the case in Colombia. So you can indeed make this comparison but bear in mind that there are some significant institutional differences. What is fundamental for achieving an effective model of community policing? In my opinion, some of the
