The PNC had 20,186 active-duty officers, or 1.58 officers for every 1,000 persons in the population, which was far below the international average. Following the recommendations of the Commission for Historical Clarification, the PNC dismissed 763 officers implicated in human rights violations.¹ The police force remained one of the most inefficient and corrupt institution in Guatemala.²

The PNC continued on a downward spiral as the effects of recruiting most of its members from the former police structures became evident. With endemic corruption, constant turnover in leadership, poor funding and many cases of police abuses, the public did not accept the PNC as a legitimate guarantor of public security.³ In response, the Government established the Commission on Transparency and Corruption.⁴

The PNC weakened while crime was on the rise. The Government still relied on the Armed Forces to manage some aspects of public security. After consulting with civil society organizations, the Government created the Advisory Council on Security in February 2003.⁴

MINUGUA called the poor performance of the PNC “one of the most serious setbacks in the peace process.” UN observers verified dozens of cases of extrajudicial killings and torture at the hands of PNC officers each year.⁵

Despite the full deployment of the PNC, the public security situation deteriorated.⁶ The mixing of police and military forces increased.⁷

MINUGUA confirmed the involvement of the PNC in extrajudicial executions and attempted executions.⁸

Spending for public security exceeded the set targets, but not enough of it was dedicated to improving the infrastructure and equipment of the PNC. In the beginning of the year, the PNC grew to 18,314 members dispersed throughout most of the country. There were six district offices, twenty-seven departmental stations, 127 stations, 343 substations and eight mobile units. The quality of deployment was still lacking, and only 10% of personnel were women and only 14% indigenous persons.⁹ The PNC met its target of 20,000 members in December 2001.¹⁰

The Government regressed on its commitment to build up the civilian police force. Congress issued Decree No. 8-2000 on 21 March, authorizing Military Police to assist the PNC. After police failed to control crowds during protests over transportation fare hikes in Guatemala City in May, the PNC director was dismissed and Congress issued Decree No. 40-2000, authorizing the army to collaborate with civil security forces to fight crime. The President, through Government Agreement 87-2000, sanctioned the role of the army in maintaining security at penal institutions. Members of the PNC were implicated in many human rights violations, including extrajudicial executions.¹⁰

MINUGUA confirmed the involvement of PNC officers in extrajudicial killings, torture and degrading punishment, other excessive uses of force, arbitrary arrests, and the obstruction of justice during investigations of these crimes. The Office of Professional Accountability in the PNC lacked the human and material resources to monitor and purify the entire police force.¹¹

The Government graduated and deployed the first tranche of new PNC recruits, and re-trained over 6,000 former members of the National Police and Treasury Guard. However, the addition of all the new PNC officers was not enough to establish law and order throughout the country.¹² Many human rights violations were committed by members of the National Police and the PNC, while both institutions lacked effective measures to prevent abuses or punish officers who use excessive force.¹³

An act of Congress established the new National Civil Police (PNC) on 4 February.¹⁴ With high crime rates, profound corruption in the old National Police and low capacity in the new PNC, the Government sought options to used its armed forces for public safety purposes, which would constitute a violation of the spirit of the agreements.¹⁵

The military personnel continued to decline in Guatemala. In 2006 the strength was 29,000 personnel which declined to 16,000 personnel in 2007.¹⁶