professionalism in police work. When I first came to Dominical in 1972 Don Pepe was serving his third term as President of Costa Rica, and a loyal supporter of his, Don Antonio Chacón was Agente Principal de Policia in Dominical. His job was to keep order in the community, but he also had the authority to issue citations and levy fines. If the offender was not in agreement with the fine, the case moved to the next level which, at that time, was called the Alcaldía, the equivalent of a Justice of the Peace in the United States. The Alcaldía was located in the seat of the cantón. But Don Antonio Chacón was much more than a policeman. I used to say that having Don Antonio as the Agente Principal de Policía was like having a lawyer in Dominical. When I first came to Hacienda Barú a squatter had slashed and burned about seven hectares of rainforest, and one of my first tasks was to get him evicted. Don Antonio, suggested a meeting with the squatter, a man named Memo, and recommended that I offer to buy his shack and corn field, which were the only two things of any value he had done on the land. He sent a summons to Memo requiring his presence at the Agencia Principal de Policia, at 3:00 PM the next day. In those days the Agencia was a shack built on a rock near present day Roca Verde. At the meeting Don Antonio explained to Memo that if I took the case to the Alcaldía in Quepos, that he would be evicted, and probably end up in jail. He agreed to sell me his shack and corn field for 700 colones, $81 at the time. Don Antonio drew up a contract on legal paper with official seals and stamps. We both signed, I paid Memo 700 colones, and he voluntarily left the land. A small corner of the parcel he had slashed and burned is today Hacienda Barú’s campground in the rainforest where we do the Night in the Jungle tour. The rest is the oldest secondary forest on the reserve. At that time there was another police force active in the country called the Resguardo Fiscal. Their job was to go after people involved in activities that would cheat the government out of tax revenues, things like contraband cigarettes and liquor and moonshine stills. This police force had a reputation of being rough and tough and not at all friendly to the community, so much so that they earned themselves the nickname of “gorillas.” During the time that Don Antonio Chacón was the Agente Principal de Policía in Dominical, Don Pepe decided to combine the Resguardo Fiscal and the Agencia Principal into a single police force the Guardia de Asistencia Rural (GAR.) Dominical Days 6
Don Antonio remained in Dominical and became the first delegate of the GAR. In 1975 at the end of Don Pepe’s term as president, Don Antonio was dismissed, and the incoming president, Daniel Oduber, gave the post to Don Emilio “Millo” Vargas. “The GAR was more than just a police force,” says Millo. “Just like the name implies, it gave assistance to rural areas.” GAR officials were always involved in community development, serving on committees and school boards and helping in any way they could. “Sure we were policemen, but we were there to serve the people as well.” During his 20 years as a GAR delegate, Don Emilio never had to fire his gun. He once disarmed a drunk who was shooting a pistol into the air at the Miramar Bar (now Roca Verde) on New Year’s Eve, but he did it without drawing his own revolver. He served in both Uvita and Dominical. “Dominical was always an easy going place to be,” he reminisced. “Uvita was where all the problems were.” He had to deal with two homicides while he was there, and a lot of minor crime. In Dominical there was some minor crime and cattle rustling. The most exciting thing that ever happened was hurricane Joan, during which Don Millo worked tirelessly to help the community, which was totally isolated from the outside world for six days. Other policemen who have served in Dominical were: Antonio Solano who was captain of the Resguardo Fiscal from 1962 to 1966. Amancio Obando, after whom “Las Rocas de Amancio” was named, was Agente Principal de Policía from 1968 to 1970. He was followed by Antonio Chacón, Emilio Vargas, Harold Ross, Mavel Sanchez and Carlos Hernandez, all of whom served in the Guarda de Asistencia Rural and most of whom were deeply involved in the community. One outstanding example of this service ethic is the coconut plantation at Dominical Beach; most of these palms were planted by Mavel Sanchez in the 1980s. During the time that the GAR existed, its urban counterpart was called the Guardia Civil. This police force was more professional than the GAR and better prepared to deal with urban crime, but it lacked the element of community service to which the rural residents had become accustomed. In the late 1990s the government decided to combine these two police forces into one. The new service, the Fuerza Pública, is today in charge of maintaining law and order in the entire country. It is much more professional than the GAR and better prepared to deal with modern crime, but like the Guardia Civil, it lacks that won-
derful element of community service so characteristic of the GAR. That isn’t to say they haven’t done their job, because they have worked diligently to maintain law and order with the resources available to them. But the Fuerza Pública has been represented by a steady stream of nameless policemen who have passed through Dominical, done their job, and been transferred somewhere else, never to be remembered. Recently a new police force has come into being, that appears to be quite professional yet very attentive to the needs of the community, the Policía Turística. It was organized with the objective of making the country safe for tourism, and attending directly to crimes against tourists. In so doing the officers are involv-
ing themselves in the communities they serve, bringing back memories of the Guardia Asistencia Rural.
DD Dominical Days
La Revista Original de Costa Ballena The Original Costa Ballena Magazine