Posted on 06/26/2007 1:02:34 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
Mexico ousts hundreds of police commanders
Government is cracking down on corruption
By James C. McKinley Jr.
NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE
June 26, 2007
MEXICO CITY – Mexico purged 284 commanders from the top ranks of its federal police forces yesterday as part of the government's effort to contain corruption and halt an underworld war between drug traffickers.
“We know Mexicans demand an honest, clean and trustworthy police force,” Public Security Secretary Genaro García Luna said at a news conference. “It's obvious there are mafias that are acting to keep the situation from changing, to continue enriching themselves through corruption and crime.”
García Luna said the federal police chiefs in all 32 states were among those demoted and sent to be retrained. They will be replaced with officers who are from an elite corps that underwent special training and vetting and who have submitted to drug tests and polygraph tests. He acknowledged that a handful of the demoted senior officers were being investigated over allegations that they had taken bribes, but he provided no details.
Mexico has been plagued not only by corrupt officers working for drug dealers, but also by honest officers too terrified to take on the gangs.
Although new administrations have revamped the federal police in the past, the effort to put new commanders in key places throughout the nation's police forces was unprecedented, criminologists said.
Since taking office in December, President Felipe Calderón has waged an aggressive offensive against drug traffickers, sending thousands of troops and federal agents into towns and states where mobsters control local officials.
His efforts have so far unleashed the worst wave of drug-related violence this country has seen. Just this year more than 1,050 civilians, along with 178 police officers and 19 soldiers, have been killed in gangland shootouts and executions. Traffickers often employ corrupt officers as gunmen.
Also yesterday, Mexican and U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Mexico's main drug cartels are talking to each other in an attempt to calm a recent round of bloody turf battles. However, officials denied reports that a government representative may have been a party to the talks.
The talks between the two main drug gangs, the Sinaloa and the Gulf cartels, were first reported in yesterday's edition of The Dallas Morning News.
Experts on reforming the police said the purge was a good first step, though some said the heart of the corruption problem had always been the lack of internal affairs investigators and of outside oversight of the police. What is more, Mexico's police officers are poorly trained and poorly paid compared with their U.S. and European counterparts, making them ripe targets for bribes.
“You can change the people and not change the institution,” said Ernesto López Portillo Vargas, executive director of the Institute for Security and Democracy, an independent group that studies police corruption issues. “This is the big risk.”
Well...the downside may very just be that now there are 284 MORE illegal aliens who will be jumping across the border. After all...doesn't America need more corrupt cops to do the jobs that honest American cops just won't do?
Call me cynical...
...last seen in line at ICE Headquarters filling out job applications!
Corruption in Mexico solved! That was easy.
“We know Mexicans demand an honest, clean and trustworthy police force,”
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
That is funny!
More propaganda to make us say, “Hey, look, Mexico is cleaning up her act, I guess it is alright if the whole country moves here and sucks up all our resources!”. They just keep trying with the childish tricks.
Cynical, has anyone seen the bridge?
Corruption in Mexico solved! That was easy.
:::::
Attacking corruption in Mexico is like attacking a T-Rex with a fly swatter....no problem though, they will be shipping alot (MORE) of their gangs and drug operations here after the KENNEDY/BUSH/MCCAIN amnesty bill is passed.
I think we should encourage Mexico in this, and help any way we can. The root cause of illegal immigration is the corruption at every level of the Mexican economy that slows economic growth. Fix that, and the economy can thrive, spawning fewer illegal alien crossings into America.
We could eliminate corruption by legalizing drugs, but of course, that will never happen.
We could eliminate corruption by legalizing drugs, but of course, that will never happen.
::::::
True, then all we would have to deal with is 15 million, or so, illegals, paying for them with TRILLIONS OF TAX PAYER DOLLARS, and then paying for the ones that will continue to come across our border to enjoy the Teddy-Bush amnesty.....sure is a pretty picture, eh???
Isn’t “uncorrupt Mexican” an oxymoron?
On the other side of the coin, however, is the fact that the U.S. Border Patrol is hiring new officers to replace the ones that didn’t properly respect the universal rights of undocumented Americans and, accordingly, there are lots of jobs for these guys just a few miles from home.
Corruption in their prior jobs should not be an impediment to their transition.
Oh, that’s going to happen. sarcasm
Mexico will not tolerate the legalization of drugs by the United States. And no, I don’t know what they would do, but they would not stand still for it. (Unless we get the drugs from them.)
Remember La Mordida is more that just a nibble.
This really is Mexico's only hope. One they conquer the culture of corruption (not just Mexico, but most of Latin America), they can get on the road to being a place where people can make an honest living.
Mexico will not tolerate the legalization of drugs by the United States.
:::::
Oh, they would whine like liberals, wouldn’t they??? (chuckle)
That would put a big dent in the national gross product!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.