More reports of extra-judicial killings by police

Reporters at RevistaFactum have published detailed descriptions of three extra-judicial killings by members of an elite anti-gang unit of El Salvador's police force.  Their work is republished in English at InsightCrime.    The reporting details the tactics the unit used to execute gang members in the central part of the country.

The existence of extra-judicial killings is not news in El Salvador.   But the specifics of the reporting, which forces authorities to open an investigation, is uncommon and important.

The reporters also detail how elements of the unit used social media to collaborate and select targets:

The Facebook page was but one way the police participating in these allegedly extrajudicial executions and other crimes communicated. With Rastreador's assistance, Factum followed a WhatsApp channel in which at least 50 police shared photos of dead boys and men, all alleged gang members, as well as tips on how to avoid judicial scrutiny, notices about when alleged gang members were released from prison and other ways they could track and execute suspected gang members.

Despite these reports, no one should expect the current government to do anything to reign in the excesses of these security units which they deem essential in bring down the homicide rate.