The Police and the Politics of Information in Chile under Pinochet

Abstract

Reforms to the police forces in Chile during the Pinochet dictatorship resulted in centralization of command and specialization of functions. Centralization and specialization are a surprising result in a dictatorship where information is rigidly controlled. They require precisely the type of detailed information about agents' operations which in a closed regime is difficult to obtain. Opposition human rights groups monitored police operations and made this information publicly available. Although coming from political enemies, in an indirect way this information provided softline sectors within the government with valuable tools to control the worst aspects of police repression. A key finding is that a closed information regime is institutionally unstable.