Securing City hospitals 'is up to the Met Police,' Garré

Security Minister Nilda Garré assured that protecting and securing the City is a task that is “definitely up to the City Government’s Metropolitan Police.”

“I agree with the calls for an increased level of security in hospitals, which must be guaranteed, and they must take these demands to the City Government authorities,” the minister said in a radio interview. 

Garré explained that asking the Federal Police to protect City hospital “would be as absurd as if the National Government asked the Metropolitan Police to look after its public building just because they are located inside the city of Buenos Aires.”

She argued that the responsibility to protect hospitals “is undeniably up to the Metropolitan Police, which is exactly what it was created for.” 

The Security minister recalled that due to several agreements signed between the National and City governments in 2004, 500 federal police officials had been assigned to protect any locations considered sensitive by the City Government. The agreements, however, expired after they were denounced by the City Government.

“In a decree issued in February 2011, the City Government denounced these agreements y argued that, since the presence of the Metropolitan Police was expanding, it was no longer necessary to have those 500 officials” deployed around town, The National Government proceeded to remove all of them from the City streets. 

“Since then, the Metropolitan Police can take care of protecting public buildings o finding an alternate solution through private security agency,” she stated.

Garre’s response came after the Doctors’ Association of the Santojanni Hospital Marcelo Struminger demanded for an increase in security personnel in hospital since “anyone can walk in and do whatever they want.”