As Tijuana's police force retrieved its confiscated guns yesterday, city officials demanded to know the conclusions of a three-week federal investigation into the possible use of those weapons for drug crimes.
Luis Javier Algorri, secretariat of public security for the city, said he would formally ask the Mexican Attorney General's Office to explain the findings – good or bad – to the community.
“We exhort them to tell us if they found that any of the weapons were used improperly by the city police,” he said.
Mexican federal authorities confiscated the weapons Jan. 4 as part of a sweeping investigation into alleged ties between organized crime and some officers from the city's 2,300-member police force.
Federal authorities haven't revealed their initial findings as they continue to question every member of the police force. About 50 officers are being interviewed each day, Algorri said, and the interviews have taken place for about 10 days.
The disarming of the police force generated mixed reactions in this border city, where some residents said they felt safer because they believe certain officers are actively involved in criminal activities.
But others said street criminals took advantage of the situation as officers refrained from responding to calls that could put them in harm's way.
Algorri said the officers weren't able to do their jobs properly without their guns. They detained about 11,000 criminal suspects during the past three weeks, he said, while the figure was 30,000 during the same time frame last year.
In terms of homicides, January hasn't registered as a particularly violent month despite the lack of armed police. The city had 16 killings as of Jan. 24. The monthly figure has ranged between 19 and 44 over the past year.
No Tijuana police officer was killed during the three weeks. In contrast, eight of them died on the job during the last four months of 2006.
The difference may be attributed in part to a force of more than 3,000 soldiers and federal officers who have patrolled the region since Jan. 2. Also, many Tijuana police officers now frequently travel in caravans in an effort to decrease their exposure to attacks.
“Fortunately, no police officer died, but that was because of a lot of luck,” said Algorri, who added that five officers were injured between Jan. 1 and 24 and one had his house shot at.
Although Tijuana's police force is currently in the spotlight, federal investigators also have scrutinized state crime-fighting agencies for possible ties to organized crime.
Anna Cearley: (619) 542-4595; anna.cearley@uniontrib.com
