Buenos Aires, Dec 15 (NA) -- After the Buenos Aires City Legislature approved the creation of the Penitentiary and Social Reintegration Service, the idea is advancing that the first prison under the City's orbit could be built on federal lands in the Buenos Aires locality of Ezeiza. This was revealed by Buenos Aires City lawmaker and Justice Committee President María Inés Parry of UCR/Evolución, who stated that this is part of an agreement between the governments of Javier Milei and Jorge Macri, as reported by the Noticias Argentinas news agency. The goal is a refunctionality, a change of conception. "These places are for first judicial consultation, but due to ongoing problems dragged from the pandemic to the present, where prisoners were not transferred to the penitentiary system, police stations and detention centers have become overcrowded. And a scheme of competence is needed, with conversations underway. Understanding that the resocialization of those deprived of their liberty is necessary. "Given the crisis and fatigue in the system of detention centers and police stations, we created our own penitentiary system. That's why we talk about a life plan and interdisciplinary spaces to try to provide the maximum number of possible tools for that resocialization." Parry stated that the Superior Institute of Public Security (ISSP) "gave training to police officers in stations and detention centers to work in those places, which are not spaces for people deprived of their liberty to serve their sentences." "We believe the location could be on federal lands in Ezeiza, but all that is a matter of conversation for the Executive Branch, not the Legislative," Parry emphasized in an interview on the 'Police Time' program on ATP Radio. Weeks ago, the Buenos Aires City Legislature approved the creation of the City's Penitentiary and Social Reintegration Service with 54 votes in favor and 3 against (all from the Left). "We are not only bringing in penitentiaries, but they are also going to train staff. It's a bit fantastic at first." "To start, there is no island for such a thing."
"The City already has its scheme for police stations and detention centers, but it will also have its own prison, which requires an agreement to be signed because it is necessary to know where it will be located. All that is said is part of the ignorance that exists," Parry stated.
Finally, Parry assured that "the possible path is an agreement with the National Executive, with a transfer of powers and having a scheme with a space for the construction of the prison and the preparation of staff."
"We have a different worldview in the City, which has to do with creating the Penitentiary Service from scratch and with a different reality," specified the City lawmaker. And she added: "We were able to take a step further and we drew on the experience of other countries. In this law, we had broad consensus, as all political forces voted in favor of this creation. This generated additional training for the staff who were there," she specified. The lawmaker recalled that they had "announcements from the beginning of the year until now about making the transfer, but it was never done," but affirmed that they expect the agreement between the National and porteño governments to be finalized, "which must then be ratified by the Legislature." There is a project to transfer people deprived of their liberty from the Villa Devoto prison - the only one in the Federal Capital - to Marcos Paz, but "it is missing the final step," detailed Parry. Regarding the proposal made by former candidate for city legislator and football coach Ricardo Caruso Lombardi to build a prison in the water, the councilor evaluated: "Ramiro Marra also made a similar proposal and it reminded me of a movie where they make a maximum security prison on a ship."
