Police training

We estimate that at present up to 3000 dolphins are illegally killed every year in Peru for human consumption. Mundo Azul’s volunteers are engaged in undercover investigation of illegal sales of dolphin meat. We then provide any intelligence we gather to the Peruvian police and are actively supporting the implementation of police raids. Raising public awareness and environmental education are further activities of our dolphin conservation campaign. We are engaged in dolphin research that provides us with important baseline information for conservation planning. Finally we are promoting whale and dolphin watching as a sustainable economic alternative to illegal dolphin killing.

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Page author: Stefan Austermühle

Reviewed by: Jeremy Hogarth

Last updated: 2010.06.01

Improving law enforcement through capacity building

Lacking knowledge of environmental laws is still a major problem with law enforcement officials in Peru, be it police, coastguard, State Prosecuters or the representatives of the local fisheries ministry office. Environmental legislation is either not taught or is not taken seriously. Capacity building and police training are therefore both of major importance for the conservation of nature in Peru.

In 2006 Mundo Azul had the opportunity to implement a training program for police officers as part of the project “Improving Marine Mammal Conservation and Compliance with Environmental Laws on the Peruvian Coast”. Police training was implemented by Mundo Azul in cooperation with the US-based Humane Society International. This training was aided with financial support from the US State Department within the frame work of the Free Trade Negotiations between Peru and the US.

The part of the project concerned with police training was implemented in cooperation with the Police Division for Ecology (División de Ecología – DIRTURE) of the National Police of Peru, coordinated by Colonel Juan Tirado Burgos, former Chief of the Police Division for Ecology and Major Juan Torres Díaz, former Chief of the Police Department for the Protection of Wild Flora and Fauna.

Between December 2006 and June 2007 four police training seminars have been implemented within the framework of this project:

Lima: 46 participating police officers
Trujillo: 30 participating police officers
Chimbote: 39 participating police officers
Huacho: 30 participating police officers

TOTAL: 145 police officers trained

Police training in Trujillo

The organization of the December 2006 police training seminar in the city of Trujillo was initiated with the support of General Guillermo Rosas León from the VII-DIRTEPOL and Cornel Roberto Frontado Nuñez, Higher Chief of III DIRTEPOL.

Police training in Chimbote

The organization of the December 2006 police training seminar in the city of Chimbote was initiated with the support of Cornel Edinson Centurión Arizona, Comander PNP Tim Luis Guerrero Villafantes from the Sub Region Chimbote and TNTE PNP Carlos Robles Benites, Chief of the Police Department of Tourism and Ecology in Chimbote.

Police training in Huacho

The organization of the June 2007 police training seminar in the city of Huacho was intiated with the support of Cornel Victor Benavente Petit, Chief of the Huacho Police Division.

Content and specialists of police training seminars

The national and international speakers taking part in the police training seminars were:

Police Department for Ecology:

Juan Torres Díaz, Chief of the Police Department for the Protection of Wild Flora and Fauna
Wilson Cabanillas Arribasplata

Mundo Azul

Stefan Austermühle, Executive Director Mundo Azul

Humane Society International:

Jennifer Felt, Program Manager Latin America and Carribean
Melissa Singh, Regional Sub-Director for Trade Capacity Building
Rick Swain, Director of the HSUS Department of Investigations
Tracy Sparshot, Consultant, 25 years of experience as US under-cover police officer in narcotics trade.

The content of the police training seminars was:

Natural History of Cetaceans in Peru
The Environmental Law of Peru
The Fisheries Law of Peru
National Laws concerning the protection of Cetaceans in Peru
Methods of under-cover crime investigation
How to identify ecological crimes concerning cetaceans
How to organize a successful police raid

Stay intouch with Mundo Azul! Sign up to our google group “Mundo Azul International” and receive news about our work and nature conservation in Peru, Web site updates, action alerts, suggestions on how you can participate or help, volunteer opportunities, internship and job openings and much more.

Become a member of our Facebook group “Mundo Azul International“

Page author: Stefan Austermühle

What you can do to stop the dolphin slaughter in Peru

Stay informed and connect to our various social network profiles, RSS-feeds and/or the newsletter
Spread the word: share this web-page with your social network friends (see our add-it function) or send out the link by email.
Become a dolphin conservation volunteer in Peru.
Go whale watching and dolphin watching in Peru with Nature Expeditions: This way you are directly supporting Mundo Azul’s research and conservation work and you are showing the Peruvian public that tourism can be an economic alternative to dolphin killing.
Adopt a dolphin
Baptize a dolphin
Sign on to the various action alerts and signature lists published regularly in Mundo Azul’s web site.