The activity was aimed at students of the subjects Journalism Technique I and Institutional Communications II and was also attended by students from different courses and graduates of the degree.

“A rapprochement between police work and journalism” was the name of the program that was recently held at the School of Journalism of the University of La Serena, whose objective was to learn about the work carried out by the Homicide Brigade of the Investigative Police of Chile (PDI) in the Coquimbo Region.

The activity was organized by Professor Mg. Marcela Poblete and was aimed at students of the subjects Journalism Technique I and Institutional Communications II, taught by the academic and was also attended by students from different courses and graduates of the degree.

The program consisted of 3 talks given by PDI officials. The first of them, led by Deputy Commissioner Lucila González, had “Femicide” as its central topic, which addressed what this crime entails, who it affects and when a homicide is classified in this way. The second talk “Suicide Prevention” was given by sub-inspector María Paz Martínez, who referred to the campaign carried out by the PDI to prevent these situations, explaining the main causes of occurrence and the strategies that can be applied to prevent these situations in the families. This campaign, which is also carried out at other educational levels, has allowed the number of suicides recorded in our country, from 2011 to date, to decrease.

The third and final presentation was given by Inspector Marcelo Castillo, who referred to the technical-scientific work carried out by the PDI Homicide Brigade to solve a case, mainly the collection of evidence and samples at the scene of the event. 

Regarding the activity, which is part of the School of Journalism's Environmental Linkage actions, Inspector Castillo said he felt very satisfied and grateful for the students' interest in learning about the work carried out by his institution, especially in topics as complex as homicides, femicides or suicides are. “It is good, from our point of view, that journalists and future journalists know the context in which the institution works. “This way they can realize the specific work to which officials are subjected and it can also serve as an aspect to take when directly carrying out their work,” also pointing out that for them the role of journalists is extremely important when communicating. people the work they do.

For the students, this activity was beneficial and of great interest for their future performance, as stated by the student Andrea Henríquez. “I believe that these instances are very beneficial for us, as future journalists, because of the knowledge and experiences that the Homicide Brigade detectives gave us. This allows us to know what situations we will face when we are developing in the profession, especially in the way of interacting with PDI officials, at the scene of the event and also in the way of informing the public about homicides, suicides and femicides, which were the cases that were raised in the talk,” he expressed.