Decree 35-2024 was supported by 115 of the 160 deputies. It seeks to improve working conditions, medical care for officers and their families, as well as support for uniformed officers in the use of firearms in self-defense.

According to local analysts, the main objective of the initiative will be to regulate the organization, functionality, police career, management of its resources, and internal controls on human rights in its actions, and establish a new hierarchical structure leaving the general director as the highest authority, on which two deputy general directorates depend: the operational one, which includes criminal investigation, the fight against narcotics and police intelligence, and the administrative one, which will be in charge of personnel management, health, technologies and training in studies and doctrine.

The Law creates the institution’s ranking, which is based on time of service, hierarchical rank, and position, with the benefit of an increase in net salary for every two years of effective service. Among other wl beings, July 15 is established as the National Civil Police Day in the country.

The decree included all the amendments proposed by the different legislative blocks so that it has turned into an instrument following current needs.

The Ministry of the Interior stressed that the decree represents a significant advance in strengthening the PNC and in recognizing the work of its agents to guarantee public safety. It also stressed that it will promote the professionalization and dignification of the police, by prioritizing the protection of citizens and national security.

The regulation was approved last December 6th by the president of the country, Bernardo Arévalo, and is the first reform made to the PNC Law since it was founded in 1996, during the Peace Accords.

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