Night Patrol in Cite Soleil, Haiti

Reports of looting and violent crime are up in the capital following the earthquake.

Photo/video courtesy: UN MINUSTAH

(PORT-AU-PRINCE/SALEM) - Cite Soleil is one of the poorest, most troubled neighborhoods in Port-au-Prince. The streets were controlled by warlords until United Nations peacekeepers liberated it from gangs in 2008.

The slums here are grim in the best of times, and now locals find themselves sleeping on the street. Their homes crushed from last week’s earthquake, thousands are buried beneath rubble.

Marie-Lousie Phillipe is a quake survivor: "Our country needs a lot of help. We have no place to sleep, we have no food, we are hungry. We sleep in the street. I have a baby too, we are facing a lot of trouble."

There are concerns that with the escape of 3,000 prisoners from the penitentiary during the earthquake, that some gang members may try to re-establish themselves here.

Security patrols are a standard procedure for peacekeeping operations, but they are particularly important at this time of heightened insecurity, poverty and uncertainty, according to one Brazilian peacekeeper: "We do daily security patrols by car and on foot. Our goal is to maintain a secure and stable environment. We also try to help, by contributing whatever we have on hand to help the people here."

Maintaining security is key to the humanitarian aid efforts. Reports of looting and violent crime are up in the capital following the earthquake.

On Tuesday (19 Jan), the Security Council authorized an additional 3,500 police officers and troops to the peacekeeping mission to support recovery, reconstruction and stability.

Last week’s earthquake took the lives of the UN’s chief, deputy and police force commander. This Brazilian peacekeeping contingent alone lost 22 personnel and the Haitian national police are crippled at only 50 percent capacity following infrastructure damage and heavy casualties.

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Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 covering the war in Afghanistan, and he was in Iraq over the summer of 2008, reporting from the war while embedded with both the U.S. Army and the Marines. Tim holds numerous awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing, including the Oregon AP Award for Spot News Photographer of the Year (2004), first place Electronic Media Award in Spot News, Las Vegas, (1998), Oregon AP Cooperation Award (1991); and several others including the 2005 Red Cross Good Neighborhood Award for reporting. Serving the community in very real terms, Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website. You can send Tim an email at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com

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