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Professionalizing
the Mexico City Police Force
Since
1997, when the first elected government
of Mexico City came into office, the
city government has undertaken a major
campaign to reduce crime and limit
corruption in the police force. Jose
Luis Perez Canchola and Maria de los
Angeles Fernandez Ruiz, long-time
human rights activists, were given
the responsibility of reorganizing
the Professional Training Institute
of Mexico City's judicial police.
The following is an extract from an
interview with Maria de los Angeles
Fernandez Ruiz on new approaches they
have used in the fight against corruption.
At
the Institute, we have been working
in two basic directions. One is the
training of the current judicial police
officers; the other is training for
new recruits to the judicial police.
The program is different for each,
but with both we have put a significant
emphasis on human rights. This includes
the human rights of suspects, of course,
but also of the victims, who have
a right to reparation and resolution
of their case, and of the police officers
themselves as public servants, who
have a right to a just treatment by
their supervisors. We are also placing
a strong emphasis on the responsibilities
of public service and the code of
conduct that they should follow as
public officials.
In
addition, we have changed the profile
for new recruits. We now require at
least two years of college, although
over 40% of the recruits have finished
four years of college. We require
them to live in Mexico City, so that
they have a love for the place where
they are working and the investment
that we make in their training stays
here. In addition, they cannot have
belonged to any other police department
before or to any branch of the armed
forces. This is to help fight against
corruption. Some have argued that
this means passing over potential
recruits with experience, but we prefer
to have recruits with a fresh slate
and a higher level of education.
Furthermore,
the city has doubled the salaries
of the judicial police, the crime
scene investigators, and prosecutors
since 1998. This puts them on a level
that is above what other public servants
are paid in Mexico and comparable
with Spain or France. This is an honorable
wage which allows the police to do
an honorable job and be proud of it.
We have also laid down the foundations
for a civil service system with clear,
impartial examinations and evaluations
of the candidates. This guarantees
that someone can join the police department
in an entry-level position and make
a career by being promoted through
the institutional structure.
After
four years of working with this new
approach, there is a clear sense that
there has been an impact on the way
police officers do their daily work.
For example, complaints to the Mexico
City Human Rights Commission have
dropped by 33%. We attribute this
to the fact that the judicial police
have greater knowledge of their responsibilities
and how to carry them out, and that
they have a higher level of education
and are able to carry out a more scientific
investigation than in the past.
The
greatest obstacle, however, has been
resources. Organized crime has a lot
of resources and they are sometimes
better equipped than the police. We
have to work with the police officers,
teaching them to do their job with
limited resources. The other major
difficulty we encounter is distrust
in the community - people feel that
things are bad and will not change.
Fortunately,
little by little people are starting
to notice these changes, realizing
that police abuses are less frequent
and that the police treat citizens
better than before.
Ms.
Maria de los Angeles Fernandez Ruiz
is Director of the Professional Training
Institute of the Mexico City Judicial
Police. She may be contacted at angelesfdz@yahoo.com.
This interview originally appeared
in The Woodrow Wilson Center Update
on the Americas (October, 2001). Reprinted
with permission.
| "Men
occasionally stumble over
the truth, but most of them
pick themselves up and hurry
off as if nothing happened."
-- Sir Winston Churchill |
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