Peru's government has installed Lieutenant General Fredy López Mendoza as the new commander general of the National Police, replacing Óscar Arriola Delgado, who has retired from the force. The change comes as President Keiko Fujimori's administration faces criticism over a growing number of homicides.
The new command will be formally recognised on Wednesday, September 16. Alongside López Mendoza, Lieutenant General Augusto Ríos Tiravanti becomes chief of the General Staff, and Lieutenant General Manuel Lozada Morales takes over as Inspector General.
Arriola had Fujimori's backing, but he was first appointed under former president Dina Boluarte and stayed in the post through the governments of José Jerí and José María Balcázar, who took office in January of this year. Killings intensified in the first month of Fujimori's government, creating a sense of public defenselessness, and Arriola submitted his resignation. He had been due to complete one year in the role on September 30, out of the two years the law allows him. According to a related report, Arriola stepped down after 169 homicides were recorded in August alone.
Who is Fredy López Mendoza
López Mendoza's appointment carries historical weight. He is the first officer to lead the force who comes from the 1990 merger that created a single National Police, which took place 36 years ago under the first government of Alan García. Arriola, by contrast, belonged to the old Peruvian Investigative Police, known as Código 2. López answers to no such legacy code.
Born in Lima, López Mendoza is 60 years old and belongs to the Los Pioneros 1990 class, the first officer class to graduate from the unified National Police. He ranked second in his class. His record includes stints leading the Anti-Corruption Directorate, the Police Aviation unit and the La Libertad police region, as well as service in units tackling money laundering, drug trafficking and financial crime.
Why a rival was passed over
Augusto Ríos Tiravanti had initially been considered the favourite to replace Arriola inside the Interior Ministry. The two share the Integración 1989 class, though Ríos comes from the former Civil Guard and Arriola from the former Investigative Police. Interior Minister César Astudillo ruled Ríos out after reviewing his record.
In October 2023, Ríos Tiravanti was removed as director of the La Libertad police region over poor results against crime. A subordinate from his own class, Colonel Arturo Balta Paredes, who led the Public Order and Security Division in Trujillo under him, was later arrested for alleged links to a criminal group known as La Gran F.A.
Ríos Tiravanti was also the officer who mockingly shouted a holiday greeting for Peru's July 28 independence day at a reporter from the Sunday programme Panorama, who had confronted him as he left the Villa Consentino restaurant in the Chorrillos district. He and around 40 other generals, including then police chief Víctor Zanabria Angulo, were marking an unofficial gala evening that night.
The episode became public on July 26, 2025, amid a wave of violence and a rise in contract killings across the country. At the time, Ríos Tiravanti headed the police Intelligence Directorate. Despite his record, he now becomes chief of the General Staff under López, while the Inspector General post goes to Luis Flores Solís, though not for long.
More changes ahead
In the coming weeks, Flores Solís, currently third in the police chain of command, will retire under the age limit rule after 40 years of service. He was part of the special intelligence group GEIN, which helped dismantle the leadership of the Shining Path insurgency, and belongs to the Justicieros 1987 class. From October 1, he will begin a three-month adaptation period before leaving institutional life.
His post will pass to Manuel Lozada Morales, currently head of the National Directorate of Criminal Investigation and fourth in the police hierarchy. Lozada belongs to the Integración 1989 class of the former Republican Guard, the same background as Arriola.
Arriola's departure does not amount to a deep shake-up of the police high command. López Mendoza represents continuity within a leadership group that has struggled to push back against criminal organisations, a failure the report says also reflects the government's own lack of decisive action.
Ceremony set for Wednesday
The handover ceremony is scheduled for Wednesday, September 16, in the courtyard of honour at the National Police's Technical School for Non-Commissioned Officers in the Puente Piedra district of Lima.
The delay in the handover is thought to be linked to promotion examinations currently under way for police officers seeking to move up in rank. It has not been ruled out that Arriola delayed his resignation to ensure officers who worked under him secured promotion. Another possible factor is that the former Peruvian Investigative Police is marking 78 years since its founding.
