Police deviance in Bukele's Government

• In Event: Police Misconduct Worldwide

Abstract

Introduction
The National Civilian Police in El Salvador has exhibited misconduct on multiple occasions since its founding. While police forces can deviate from their functions, the issue becomes critical when such deviations are government-driven. This paper argues that police deviance has intensified under President Bukele, who has deployed various mechanisms to exert control over the police and align it with partisan interests. These mechanisms operate within a dynamic power relationship where different actors pursue their own agendas. However, structural, institutional, and ideational mechanisms have, at times, provided certain actors with strategic advantages (Parsons, 2023).
Methodology
This study analyzes the power dynamics between the Salvadoran government and the police since 1992. Sources include historical newspapers, online news, posts from X (Twitter), and interviews with former police officers. Data was examined using process tracing methodology (Beach & Brun, 2013).
Results and Discussion
This study maps the historical relationship between the government and police, identifying mechanisms through which Bukele's administration gained absolute control. Key strategies include police dismissals, legal amendments, alliances, financial incentives, impunity, the State of Exception, weakened checks and balances, and a populist narrative justifying punitive measures. These findings highlight how authoritarian regimes dismantle democratic policing to establish a police state.

Author

• Augusto Rigoberto Lopez Ramirez, Universidad Centroamericana Jose Simeon Cañas