Police Chief Mario Andresol said on Monday . `` We have new area to protect and new people to protect . It 's another kind of security we have to ensure . This is the toughest one . '' Full coverage | Twitter updates It will be an overwhelming task . The Port-au-Prince police force of 4,000 has plunged to about 1,500 -- the rest of the officers dead , wounded or missing , Andresol said . Complicating matters , about 4,000 convicted criminals are on the loose . The capital 's 95-year-old , badly overcrowded National Penitentiary collapsed after the quake , and the inmates escaped . `` We have an emergency now , '' Andresol said . `` Because , probably next week , we will have more confusion on the street . The bad guys will be organizing themselves , and they can be the most principal threat to the police and the population . '' Police presence at these new neighborhoods is sporadic . With electricity lines down throughout the city , residents bunch up their meager belongings into pillows and sleep on them after dark . iReport : Looking for loved ones `` You put
Port-au-Prince , Haiti -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- In the best of times , the Champs de Mars square in downtown Port-au-Prince was an awe-inspiring sight for Haitians . The broad boulevard was home to the majestic presidential palace , the seat of the country 's power and prestige . Not anymore . The century-old gleaming white palace is in ruins . And in the shadow of its wrought-iron gates , the immaculately maintained plaza has been overtaken by row upon haphazard row of makeshift shacks as far as the eye dwells . These are the new homes of the capital 's displaced residents : rickety quarters comprised of bed sheets , propped up on sticks and held together with ropes . Nearly 500,000 Haitians have moved here , rendered homeless by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake that devastated the impoverished island-nation a week ago . Throughout the capital , and in other affected areas of the country , similar tent cites have risen -- cramped , squalid encampments filled with the few belongings that residents have salvaged . As rescue and recovery efforts continue , these mini-cities pose Haiti 's next challenge . `` This is the biggest one , '' National