Buenos Aires, November 28 (NA) -- The Buenos Aires Legislature approved this Friday, for the first time in the city's history, the creation of the Penitentiary and Social Reintegration Service (SPRS), an agency that will depend on the Chief of Government and will have a specialized security force and civilian leadership.
As reported by the Noticias Argentinas news agency, the initiative, promoted by the City Government, received 54 votes in favor and 3 against after five months of deliberations in which different blocks built consensus to advance a scheme for its own sentence enforcement.
In parallel, the Legislature sanctioned the Law on Enforcement of the Penalty with 55 affirmative votes and three negative ones, which will allow the city to assume that full competence for the first time.
"It is historic that we have our own Penitentiary Service, a great step for our comprehensive security plan and a milestone for Buenos Aires autonomy," affirmed the Head of Government, Jorge Macri, who highlighted the impact of the measure on the lives of the city's three million neighbors.
What it will be like The new SPRS will have a general director, a deputy director, and areas for Penitentiary Security, Diagnosis and Treatment, Life Plan, and Human Resources.
It will also include agents from the Penitentiary Security Service, an armed and hierarchized civil force in charge of custody, transfers, and the use of force.
In line with a social reintegration model, the agency will include a professional corps: psychologists, social workers, and educators responsible for designing and monitoring a "Life Plan" for each convict, with the aim of reducing recidivism through training and accompaniment.
The Minister of Justice for Buenos Aires, Gabino Tapia, celebrated the approval and considered it "a very important step in the institutional consolidation of the City," and emphasized that the measure "strengthens the Comprehensive Public Security System."
Regarding the Law on Enforcement of the Penalty, which will allow the City to assume that full competence for the first time, its main purpose is for the convict to understand the seriousness of their acts, respect the law, and achieve social reintegration.
The regulation introduces innovations that recognize the victim's right to reparation by whoever committed the crime.
