Five Types of Police

One of my new friends was held up at gunpoint on his way home a couple of weeks ago. He had moved just out of town to an airbnb where another friend had been staying for the past two weeks. Locals are shocked because this kind of crime hasn’t happened in Antigua in fifteen years, especially in broad daylight. The theory is that some gang members from the capital were out cruising on the public holiday and had seen a gringo turn off the main road and begin walking down a quiet side street. They followed, pulled up beside him and pointed a gun at him through the window. He lost his bag with his phone, camera, and worst of all, his Spanish homework.

Another student told me that there were five types of police working in Antigua. When I asked my teacher, he explained that these were municipal police, federal police, traffic police, tourist police and private guards. Each has a distinct uniform, but the only police worth going to when in trouble are the federal police in black, mainly because they won’t run away, but also because they know how to fight both with weapons and unarmed. Unfortunately, none patrol outside of the town limits.

Guatemalan people will also run away from a cry for help, he told me. The history of violence in the capital and of people being kidnapped outside of the towns has left them scared, though this is very rare now – once in fifteen years, apparently. According to my teacher, the best thing to do when in real trouble is to shout ‘Fuego!‘ (fire) because Guatemalans are no different to the rest of us when it comes to morbid fascination, and watching a building burn down is likely to be the highlight of their year.