User:McLynch/sandbox

History
Between 1884 and 1889 the Rural Police (which would later become the National Police) and Mounted Police developed from the private armies of wealthy landowners. In the early days of the Republic of El Salvador, the Civil Guard was created in 1867, which then gave way to the National Guard in 1912. At the end of the Salvadoran Civil War law enforcement bodies in El Salvador included the National Police (Policia Nacional), the Treasury Police, and the National Guard. All were part of the Armed Forces of El Salvador. According to the Commission on the Truth for El Salvador, these police agencies perpetrated many human rights abuses during the civil war. The civil war ended with the Chapultepec Accords, which sets limitations on the involvement of the military in internal security and set expectations for the respect of human rights by security forces. Establishing civilian control of law enforcement agencies was a central tenet of the peace accords which ended the war only after the government and the guerrillas agreed to create a new National Civil Police, incorporating both former police and ex-insurgents as well as a large proportion of previous non-combatants into its ranks. The office of U.S. Senate Majority Whip Alan Cranston (D-California) played a key role in brokering that final agreement, which included the U.S. Department of Justice taking the lead among international actors in establishing the new force.

According to El Salvador's current constitution, the National Civil Police (Policia Nacional Civil, also known as PNC) is the only force in charge of keeping order, security and public tranquility in the country, with different functions from the army. As part of the peace process, the National Guard and the Treasury Police were supposed to be abolished immediately; it took some time, but eventually was accomplished. The National Civil Police (PNC) emerged as the primary law enforcement agency by 1993, at which point José Maria Monterrey was appointed as the first Director General of the PNC. In the 1990s the government attributed El Salvador’s high murder rates (65 out of every 100,000 people) to increasing gang related activity. Thus, under the administration of Francisco Flores, the PNC attempted to crack down on gangs as part of a policy called Mano Dura or “Iron Fist”.

Despite the peace accords setting strict limits on the involvement of the military in the PNC, a retired military general, Francisco Ramon Salinas Rivera, was hired as the Director of the PNC in 2012. however, due to his ties with the military, the Supreme court viewed his appointment as violating the peace accords, and he was removed from office. Rivera was replaced by Howard Augusto Cotto Castaneda in 2014, two years after his initial appointment was called into question.

Hierarchical Organization and responsibilities of the PNC
According to the Chapultepec Peace Accords the PNC should not be connected to, or under the influence of any aspect of the Military forces. Within the PNC the Director General is at the top of the hierarchy. The President of the Republic of El Salvador has the power to appoint and replace the Director General of the PNC as they see fit; and under certain circumstances, such as a violation of human rights, the Legislator can suggest and enforce the removal of a Director General of the PNC. The Director General is responsible for hiring within the PNC, implementing public security policies, and drafting the PNC’s budget. Additionally, the Director General oversees six main subdirectories: “Public Security, Investigations, Specialized Operative Areas, Land transportation, Rural Police, and Administration and Finances”. The Deputy Director General is the second highest position in the PNC, overseeing the Deputy Directors of Investigations, Public Security, Administration, Intelligence, and Operational and Specialized Areas. The Inspector General (who reports to the Director General of the PNC) monitors the PNC for violations of human rights and the Peace Accords. The PNC also contains the Disciplinary Investigation Unit, the Control Unit, and the Internal Affairs Unit which all hold members of the PNC accountable.

Members of the PNC are divided into the general categories which contribute to the hierarchical structure of the institution. Police officers, Corporals and Sergeants are at the “Basic Level”; Sub-inspectors, Inspectors, and Chief Inspector fall within the “Executive Level”; and the “Superior Level” consists of the Sub-Commissioners and Commissioners.

The National Academy of Public Security (ANSP)
In order to enter the PNC as an officer, citizens are required to successfully complete training at the National Academy of Public Security (ANSP). Officers graduate the ANSP with training in security and human rights. As methods and techniques evolve, officers are required to complete additional training so that the PNC is as effective as possible. In order to receive certain promotions or work on specialized units, PNC officers must successfully pass courses and exams associated with the potential position.

Combatting Gang Violence
El Salvador is consistently ranked among the most violent countries in the world. In 1999 El Salvador’s homicide rate (65/100,000 people) was the highest in the region. President Francisco Flores asserted that the increase in gang related activity was the cause of increasing violence and instituted the Mano Dura or “Iron Fist” approach to decreasing gang activity. The Iron Fist approach to gang activity weakened the requirements for PNC officers to arrest and detain citizens. One law, created in 2003 under the Flores administration, made gang membership illegal; essentially allowing PNC officers to arrest citizens suspected of gang activity.

In 2009 the election of President Mauricio Funes was the beginning of not only a major political transition but also a significant shift in strategies for combating gang activities. Funes’ election marked the first time that the leftist political party known as the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) had won the presidency since it was founded at the end of the Civil War in 1992 by marxist guerrillas. The Funes administration’s community and peace based approach to gang activity was in sharp contrast to his predecessor’s Iron Fist approach. Under the Funes administration, two prominent gangs (MS-13 and the 18th Street Gang) signed a truce in 2012 in an attempt to decrease intra-gang warfare. Initially the government stated that they did not participate in the truce negotiations. However, the government later announced it would accommodate and support the truce after as many as 30 high profile gang members were moved out of maximum security prisons and granted increased visitation rights. Thus, the government did not formally negotiate with criminals, but rather took steps to encourage the peace process . The FMLN won the Presidency again in 2014 as Sanchez Ceren (the Vice President in the Funes administration) took office. Ceren's administration quickly demonstrated their intention to depart with Funes’ strategies by rejecting the truce and prosecuting officials who were involved in the process. The political change from Funes to Ceren led to a shift back to more aggressive methods of combating gang violence by implementing policies reminiscent of the Mano Dura years. The resurgence of the “iron fist” approach to policing gang activity was part of Ceren’s plan, “El Salvador Seguro”. With the truce abandoned in 2014, violence was rising again; by the end of 2015 El Salvador’s homicide rate (105/100,000) was not only the highest in the region, but the highest in the world.

In accordance  with “El Salvador Seguro” the PNC implemented emergency measures in 2016 in attempt to reduce the homicide rate. Law reforms implemented as part of the PNC’s emergency measures lead to the designation of gangs as terrorist organizations; effectively allowing the police to target and arrest citizens suspected of being gang members, or participating in gang related activity, with even less evidence. While the harassment and mass incarceration of certain citizens based on limited evidence and suspected affiliation with a gang violates due process and other aspects of human rights, it is technically legal under the 2016 law reforms. The return to more aggressive methods of combating gang activity also corresponded with an increase in extrajudicial killings. The 2016 law reforms did not grant PNC officers the power to legally execute suspects; however, officers avoid consequences for extrajudicial activities due to a combination of a weak judicial system and support from Mano Dura policies. For further information on extrajudicial killings see the section on Controversy and Corruption in the PNC.

Controversy and Corruption in the PNC
The homicide rate dropped from 105/100,000 in 2015 to 60/100,000 in 2017, however this drop came with an uptick in accusations of PNC officers abusing their power. One of the most significant issue with the PNC’s use of force is the increase in reports of extrajudicial executions. In September of 2018 the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) received reports of the PNC using extrajudicial killings to curb gang activity from the Human Rights Institute of José Simeón Cañas Central American University and the NGO Passionist Social Service. By August of 2017, the ratio of presumed gang members to PNC officers killed in confrontations was 73 to 1; the IACHR asserts that the ratio demonstrates an abuse of force by the PNC. Early in 2018 the PNC shut down an elite police unit after it was accused of police brutality via extrajudicial execution of suspected gang members. Over the course of six months the Special Reaction Forces (FES) killed 43 gang members, causing people to question the legality of the PNC Unit’s actions. Following the closure of the FES, the PNC created a new elite police unit with essentially the same responsibilities and jurisdiction as the FES called the Jaguars. Despite facing charges of extrajudicial killings, former members of the FES were allowed to join the Jaguars. In another example, a text conversation between PNC officers, leaked by an anonymous officer, discusses strategies for hiding executions; effectively demonstrating the presence of illegal practices within the PNC.

A UN report by Agnes Callamard states that the vast majority of officers under investigation (about 92%) are back on duty within 3 days. In 2016 the Director General of the PNC, Mauricio Landaverde, stated that “All members of the PNC that have to use weapons against criminals due to their work as officers should do so with complete confidence. The PNC and the government will protect them”. Landaverde, in this case, seemingly promotes the use of extralegal action and promises not to hold officers accountable for potential abuses of power. In one case, a Judge established that at least one of eight people killed during a shootout in San Blas was the victim of an illegal execution at the hands of the police. However, because the prosecution could not identify which specific officer was directly responsible for the execution, all charges against the eight PNC officers on trial were dropped.

Contemporary Actor Search
Salvador Sánchez Cerén"He is the current president of El Salvador. Rated start class and Mid importance. There are 12 total citations, however for entire sections, such as early life, and political ideology there are no citations for the facts provided. The content is all relative, just needs more citations and more in depth reporting of his climb up the political ranks, nothing seems out of date. Tone remains fairly neutral. He's been the president since 2014, yet the article doesnt really discuss on of hs major policy moves (domestically or internationally). The talk page focussed on the tone prior to more recent edits which one user describes as essentially marxist propaganda. The article reads more neutral currently."

Article Selection
National Civil Police of El Salvador"Rated stub class and High importance""there is no introduction to the article, and only one main section which includes fairly limited and brief details on the history of the national civil police force."Elections in El Salvador"look below for more details"

Searching for Latin America Assignment: Elections in El Salvador
I started by googling politics in El Salvador, and then went to the page "Politics of El Salvador" I was looking for information on the election process in El Salvador because I was assigned El Salvador for the Reuters news research activity and one of the few articles available was on the trial of the El Salvadoran president from 2004-2009. Under the political culture section of the main article I found a link to the "Elections in El Salvador" page. I would rate the coverage as fairly low quality. The page starts with a warning banner that the article requires additional citations for verification. Ignoring the limited use of citations throughout the article, I does a fairly good job of succinctly describing the different elections that are carried out. However, it focuses primarily on the restrictions for the presidential elections and not so much for the gubernatorial or national congress elections. Overall, the article is essentially a brief outline of the process, without any real depth into the regulations. Maybe this belongs on a different page, But I also would have liked maybe a brief history/outline of who won each at least the presidential race each year (possibly with link to each president's wiki page).

Article Evaluation: Cowbells

Content:"Everything it the article is relevant to the use, history, and significance of cowbells across different cultures.""There were no glaring grammatical errors that distracted for the content." It did not seem as if there was out out of date information, however there was not a lot of information. I would have expected more.

In the introduction to the article it mentions that cowbells are used for more animals than cows, but the main body of the article barely makes a passing reference to this. If the author mentions it in the intro, it should be important eniugh to have a little more detail in the body paragraphs. Moving forward the article could comment further on that issue. Tone:"the tone was neutral (its difficult not to be neutral on a topic such as the practical uses of cowbells). Did not seem biased towards one opinion. However, there did seem to be a larger representation of some cultures than others in the article (possibly due to limited academic sources on cowbells)"Sources:"The majority of the article is made up of unsourced claims. For the few claims that are sourced many of the links don't lead to information mentioned, a couple links take the reader to different online antique stores. It is unclear where the majority of the information for this article came from. However, the couple of legitimate sources used did seem unbiased."Talk Page:"the talk page is not very long, however many of the comments suggest improvements on how to add more detail and depth to examples given in the article as it is now, or help by suggesting to add information including sources, and this article needs more sources.""the article itself does not appear to have any formal rating, but there is a long list of related wiki projects all with a 'c-class' rating""" __NEWSECTIONLINK__