According to the BBC, the Interior Ministry itself estimates that police are involved in 20 percent of all crimes in Venezuela, which I of course take to mean that they are actually involved in somewhere around twice that number.
The attention grabbers...well, there's this:
The Venezuelan police are considered among the worst in Latin America in terms of corruption and violence.
"I would say they are a very similar phenomenon to the police in Rio de Janeiro or Central American countries such as El Salvador and Guatemala" says Venezuelan criminologist Andres Antillano.
But really, as far as I'm concerned, this part is the most significant point:
Speaking anonymously, a number of the officers tell me that they are not yet convinced that the force they are trying to join will be a success."It all depends on the wages and the pension offer they make us" says one. A Venezuelan policeman earns little more than $120 (£76) a month - a salary which many analysts say has helped push them into corruption.
According to Ms El Achkar, the wages are being decided by committee and will be a significant improvement on the current situation.
It brings to mind one of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's first gigs after leaving office in 2001 - a contract, funded by a group of Mexican businessmen, to advise the Mexico City police department on how to clean up crime. Among the 40-odd recommendations he wound up making was to pay the police higher salaries.
And the fee that this cohort of businessmen paid Giuliani's consulting firm for this advice? $4.3 million.
Sometimes it amazes me how challenging it is to remain optimistic.
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