Every safe city is built on people, on the professionals who stand in public spaces each day, protecting communities and restoring trust. Through its Safe Communities (Comunidades Seguras) program, PADF, with the support and leadership of the U.S. Embassy in Ecuador’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), and in close coordination with the Quito Municipal Government’s Secretariat for Security, delivered a comprehensive training program for Quito’s Metropolitan Police (CACMQ).
This technical assistance reached 50 CACMQ instructors,men and women who are responsible for replicating the tools, skills, and core competencies acquired through the program, ensuring long-term professionalization and strengthening the preventive and operational capacity of the entire corps of agents.
The training combined technical competencies,such as citizen security, public space management, and inter-institutional coordination, with pedagogical skills designed to prepare agents not only to act, but to teach. This “train the trainer” approach is essential to the programs sustainability, allowing the institution to grow stronger from within and adapt to local evolving security challenges.
On the ground, this effort directly improves coordination between CACMQ Metropolitan Agents and the Ecuadorian National Police, supporting the consistent and effective application of prevention and response protocols. The result is a more integrated municipal response, one that is better equipped to address the complex security realities facing the city of Quito to better protect its residents.
This training process is academically endorsed by the Faculty of Law, Political and Social Sciences of the Central University of Ecuador (UCE), strengthening both the technical rigor of the program and its human-centered approach to public safety.