Rodolfo Stange

During the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, Stange rose through the ranks until becoming General Subdirector of the police force in June 1982.

On 2 August 1985, Stange was appointed to the post, serving ex officio as a member of the four-member military junta.

[citation needed] Stange was noted as a "champion" of Colonia Dignidad, a secretive religious enclave with ties to Nazism.

[6] The compound, protected by cameras, barbed wire and walls, served as a site for the torture and execution of political dissidents during the Pinochet regime.

After public outcry and political controversy over the decision, due to Stange's role in the dictatorship, the administration withdrew the proposed name change.

[11] On the night of the 1988 plebiscite which resulted in the victory of the democratic camp and ended Pinochet's rule, Stange, Navy Chief José Toribio Merino, and Air Force Chief Fernando Matthei pushed back against Pinochet's plans to overturn the result of the vote and extend his rule, thus allowing the Chilean transition to democracy to take place as planned.