MY LAST WORD ON ALTO AL CRIMEN
Rodrigo Marciacq
October 20, 2015
I want to express my personal thoughts, ideas and feelings about the past, present and future of Alto al Crimen (AAC). I have been a member of the board of AAC during the past six years, almost since its start, and the only panamanian. Initially we made a comprehensive diagnostic study on crime incidence in Boquete, where did it come from, how it had evolved, profile and characteristics of criminals and modus operandi, destination of stolen godos, etc. , which facilitated an action plan to attack and reduce criminal activity in our communitty. You see, fifteen or twenty years ago Boquete was a small, rural mountain town that did not have criminal activity to speak of, nor traffic jams, or the large inflation that we now suffer. All these are the result of “progress”, brought about by the huge influx of foreigners who discovered Boquete and moved here to live.
So AAC started working in the shade assisting the authorities (believe me, a hard task), contracting private detectives and carrying out intelligence operations with great effectiveness, and making reality our flagship project….the hotline operated by Rodney Moreno. We became the only town or city in this country to have a public yet private hotline, available to all, bilingual, 24/7, all year round.
We operated under the paradigm that crime will not go away; it will evolve and adapt to new circumstances, specially where impunity reigns. From theft it will move into drugs, child prostitution, embezelment and fraud, kidnapping, and lately murder. Now we have all these things in Boquete and they will keep growing if nothing effective and consistent is done about it. So actions like the hot line, altough extremely important, are reactive….they come into play after a crime is commited or an emergency takes place.
What we need now is pre-emption, prospection, analysis, and intelligent strategies , together with education and training of citizens and authorities. We need reorganization of public institutions and society´s organizations, to have trusted liasons among them, an effective public relations and communications system, to work proactively and not only passively against crime.
What has happened lately?
Mr. Mark Heyer, who was invited out of the board of directors of AAC some time ago, convinced Rodney to relinquish his contract of the hotline with AAC and go on his own with a private, paying base of members. Rodney thus breached his legal contract with AAC without contacting AAC in any way or form, obviously under the manipulation of Mr. Mark Heyer. Mark is out to seek “revenge” and destroy AAC, and has even threatened to sue AAC.
Persons like Mark Heyer have a hyperinflated ego and inmense arrogance. Adding to this a dose of greed, these persons loose all sense of integrity and solidarity. It makes them feel superior, full owners of the truth, and to have a despective view of all human beings.
Who losses and who wins?
- Obviously the communitty looses as the hotline, now Rodney Direct, is going to be available only to those that can afford to pay $ 80.- annually, thus betraying the original purpose of serving the whole communitty.
- Altough a pyrrhic victory, Mark is achieving success corporatizing the hotline as a for-profit business, but denying access to more than 98% of the population unless they pay a hefty fee.
My recommendations to AAC and to the communitty of Boquete:
- We are only two persons left on the board of AAC, Bob Gregory and me. Caesar Sherrard resigned and Lee Zeltzer died. But there is a group of very capable people wanting to participate, and once the new board is formed, I will resign and move on.
- Altough by a legal contract AAC owns the phone number of the hotline and the data base of persons participating, I agree in transfering the right to Rodney to continue to use the phone number. However, the data base contains more tan 600 names of people who trusted AAC with their home addresses and personal information. AAC should demand the data base be returned as it has many names who are not members of Rodney Direct and who may be interested in continuing to support AAC, and Rodney can start his own data base
- Hopefully AAC will reinvent itself, developing a new Vision and strategies designed to preempt, educate, train, organize, and empower and reorganize institutions and organizations that deal in combating crime.
- These actions should be more proactive tan reactive, based not on brute force but on intelligence and proper organization and communication.
I feel honored to be part of AAC and to have been able to serve my community through a non-profit foundation that has given a tremendous service to the community, and which is now poised to reinvent itself and continue its good labor.
Replies
Alison,
Your point about the fee would be well taken - IF Rodny was accepting payment in installments. However, since he is not doing so at this time, the fact remains that for many Panamanians, coming up with a spare $80 (around 4 days' pay) is simply not possible. No one is contending that Rodny shouldn't earn as much as the market will support; the complaint is that a large part of the population is being excluded.
Perhaps Mark and Rodny can work out a way for those less well off to benefit from the services offered by making installment payments they can afford.
It looks like this guy cut the heart out of the organization. He did it for one reason MONEY. The bad thing is he has to look all the residents of Boquete in the eye when he walks the streets of Boquete. I have heard some stories about this guy from some of the good people in town. But I wont put them in print. I will tell you they were not good. It sounds like this guy is going on the side of the thugs. I hope that AAC will rebuild and support the whole community like the orginal direction was.
I will not participate in the personal aspects of this controversy. However, I will address emergency hotline services operators related issues, including fair pay.
With regards to the "job" of being a hotline operator, there is a difference between working eight hours per day - and being available 24x7 to answer a relatively low number of phone calls per month. In fact, the work load/call level is so low that Rodny currently serves at least three communities (Boquete, Coronado and Volcan) simultaneously, and gets paid for working for all three.
Unlike employees at emergency communication centers in developed countries, our hotline operator here doesn't "go to work" every day. Instead he goes about his daily life, but must be available to stop what he is doing anywhere and at any time to answer emergency calls. Such operators deserve to be paid well for providing a very valuable service, but it is difficult to compare them with regular shift workers. For example if an operator earns $500 per month from each of three communities, that comes to $1,500 per month - a fine working-class salary by Panamanian standards.
Unfortunately, many people will soon be "excluded" from using the current hotline service because the operator has gone "private" to become a provider to a more exclusive and upscale clientele. Rodny has every right in the world to leave the realm of dedicated public service and become an entrepreneur seeking a bigger income. Private security companies with subscription-only emergency hotlines and live remote security system monitoring are quite popular in countries like the U.S. - for those who can afford them.
As time goes on, and we hire new hotline operators, Alto al Crimen will continue to be a donation-supported community service organization for all residents and visitors/tourists. We can coexist with an upscale, private, "pay-for" hotline and security service.
Hi
I made $65,000 a year working from my home "not going to work", working when I wanted to, I also know many people who do the same thing. I was a programer. So we people who don't "go to work" 5 days a week don't deserve our pay, wow.
Also I can take care of myself so I don't need to hire someone to help do that like Rodny does.
I think the BCP charges more for a table per week than Rodney is charging for one month of service, his service cost $6.66 a month or $1.53 a week. I pay $180 a year for liability insurance for my car $15 a month. I hope I do not need to ever use either insurance policy.
I will support Rodny because I like to see someone getting ahead in life. I wish him all the success he can get, why should he be restricted to a "fine working class salary by Panamanian standards"??? I think many people in the southern united states said the same thing about black people 30 years ago. I say let freedom ring, I support Rodny.
Duh - what world are you guys living on? I am not attacking Rodny, nor did I ever say his salary should be restricted. I think it is great that you are supporting him.
Rodny and I are friends. I fully support him and wish him the best in his business venture. I have not said anything negative about his supporters and customers. (It is unfortunate that the original introduction to his new business venture was linked to an attempt to unnecessarily "destroy" Alto al Crimen, which precipitated the acrimonious squabbles we are still seeing.)
However, I also support - and volunteer - for Alto al Crimen - a donation / volunteer supported hotline and security services organization for those who cannot afford or will not pay the high price for Rodny's services. I want to see visitors and tourists have hotline services, and low-cost donation-supported home inspections as well. How is that a bad thing?
There is more than one grocery store in this region. And it appears that there will be more than one Panamanian hotline operator in this region - why is that so hard to comprehend. Are you against other Panamanians having jobs?
And what is with the extreme defensiveness regarding a non-issue?
There’s room for both organizations. Hear me out. We tried to sign up for Alto a Crimen (aka Rodny) years ago but we are south of the Cochea River and out of the zone. Now we have signed up for Rodny’s service. Reason? We have our Panamanian manager living on the premises; often time his friend, a long distance Panamanian truck driver spends the night. Happened to be that night when these two guys saw people milling at the front gate; they called and called the Dolega police department. No answer, no answer. If we had been on Rodny’s list we’d have had some response. Fortunately nothing ever happened. Thank you - you guys who started Alto a Crimen, and Rodrigo for your post. About your post, yes, there is still room out here for crime awareness – and that is a measure we need to address. As far as places grow, we are all old enough to remember that the Teaneck New Jersey I was born into and lived for years has changed; the Honolulu where I once lived is far more congested and filled with homeless people now. What I am saying is that change is permanent and the most reliable occurrence in our lives, whether we like it or not. I stand now to do what I can to help prevent crime. I never before lived in a place where I easily can name about a dozen robberies or invasions that happened to people we know, let alone attempted murder.
That said, please know you are invited to help me to organize a crime awareness small rally at Chiriqui Storage flea market Sunday November 1, from 10 til 1. As I said in an earlier post there are around 300-500 people coming through the market – most of them Panamanaian VOTERS, and I intend to have their feedback on a questionnaire that, when completed, will be redirected to Diputada Athena in Potrerillos and other powers that be who can eventually listen to the word of the people. If I only get 30 or 50 that is a start; but more would be a better goal. If you can get your organizations to volunteer people for that morning – I will have clipboards, pens, and questionnaires in Spanish, for people to fill out and sign with cedula. WE NEED YOU! Let’s join together to make a safer place for us all. Contact Linda chiriquistorage@gmail.com
Unfortunately Rodrigo has no knowledge or authority to speak about Rodny's plans after termination of the AAC contract. Rodny's announcements have spoken of new community services made possible by his status as a successful subscription service. There are several in the works as we speak.
Rodny and I are both acutely aware of the need for a community-wide emergency reporting service. If you think so too, the best thing to do is sign up for Rodny Direct and help make it happen.
As for my involvement, I am very proud to have the honor of helping Rodny succeed. I am joined by a group of solid Boquete citizens who are supporting Rodny behind the scenes. I have worked with him from the beginning and over the last two years, I have been the only person to help Rodny manage his business. I am very proud of that record.
Rodny is one of the very few people in the entire world to rise above his particular disability and own a business. Instead of denigrating Rodny, we should be celebrating the honor of having such an extraordinary person serving our community.
Please come to the Boquete Library on Thursday and meet Rodny in person.
PS- I agree with Bill's statement about the mission of AAC. It is a role much needed in our community. I just wish the directors of AAC would focus on what their positive contribution to the community should be and get on with it. We need fewer Last Words and more First Words.
Mark: Of course I do not know about Rodny Direct plans, and thus have not spoken about them either. According to you, we should subscribe and pay and then we will know later on about them. Reminds me of the speaker of the house who said: if you want to know what is in the law you have to pass it first.
Don´t you dare imply that I am denigrating Rodny because I am not. Rodny for me is a very valuable person and worthy of my admiration and friendship, only that he is being taken for a ride with you to an uncertain future. Anyway, I sincerely wish him a successful venture and lots of happiness. Rodrigo
-
1
-
2
of 2 Next