issue paper mexico: police · laws (for example, the government and civic justice...

ISSUE PAPER

MEXICO: POLICE

All the sources of information contained in this document are identified and are publicly available.

RESEARCH DIRECTORATE IMMIGRATION AND REFUGEE BOARD

OTTAWA, CANADA

September 1999

i

This paper was prepared by the Research Directorate of the Immigration and Refugee Board on

the basis of publicly available information, analysis and comment. All sources are cited. This

paper is not, and does not purport to be, either exhaustive with regard to conditions in the

country surveyed or conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or

asylum. For further information on current developments, please contact the Research

Directorate.

Research completed 15 July 1999

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Table of Contents

MAP .............................................................................................................................................. iv

GLOSSARY ....................................................................................................................................v

1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................1

2. OVERVIEW OF POLICE POWERS AND RESPONSIBILITIES ............................................1

3. LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES UNDER FEDERAL JURISDICTION ...........................4 3.1 PJF (Federal Judicial Police–Policía Judicial Federal) ..........................................................4 3.2 PFP (Federal Preventive Police–Policía Federal Preventiva).................................................5 3.3 Special Prosecutor’s Office for Crimes Against Health.........................................................5 3.4 General Directorate of Security Supervision and Regulation ................................................6

4. POLICE FORCES UNDER STATE JURISDICTION (INCLUDING DF) ...............................6 4.1 México....................................................................................................................................6 4.2 Distrito Federal (DF) ..............................................................................................................7 4.3 Veracruz .................................................................................................................................8 4.4 Jalisco .....................................................................................................................................8 4.5 Puebla .....................................................................................................................................9 4.6 Guanajuato..............................................................................................................................9 4.7 Michoacán ............................................................................................................................10 4.8 Nuevo León ..........................................................................................................................10 4.9 Chiapas .................................................................................................................................11 4.10 Oaxaca ................................................................................................................................11 4.11 Guerrero..............................................................................................................................11 4.12 Chihuahua...........................................................................................................................12 4.13 Tamaulipas .........................................................................................................................12 4.14 Sinaloa ................................................................................................................................13 4.15 San Luis Potosí ...................................................................................................................13 4.16 Baja California....................................................................................................................14 4.17 Coahuila..............................................................................................................................14 4.18 Sonora.................................................................................................................................15 4.19 Tabasco...............................................................................................................................15 4.20 Yucatán...............................................................................................................................15 4.21 Morelos...............................................................................................................................16 4.22 Durango ..............................................................................................................................16 4.23 Zacatecas ............................................................................................................................17 4.24 Querétaro ............................................................................................................................17 4.25 Nayarit ................................................................................................................................17 4.26 Aguascalientes ....................................................................................................................18 4.27 Colima ................................................................................................................................18

5. POLICE MILITARIZATION....................................................................................................19

6. INTER-AGENCY COORDINATION ......................................................................................21

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7. REDRESS AND INTERNAL POLICE CONTROLS ..............................................................22

NOTES ON SELECTED SOURCES............................................................................................25

REFERENCES ..............................................................................................................................28

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MAP

Source: Mexico: A Country Guide 1992, p. xvi.

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GLOSSARY

CDHDF Comisión de Derechos Humanos del Distrito Federal (Federal District Human Rights Commission)

CDHM Comisión de Derechos Humanos del Estado de México (México State Human Rights Commission)

DF Distrito Federal (Federal District). Mexico City

INCD Instituto Nacional para el Combate a las Drogas (National Institute for Combating Drugs)

Judicial police Police attached to the attorney general’s office at the state or federal level, whose work is specifically related to the investigation of crimes (AI 9 Mar. 1999, section 1; Embassy of Mexico 14 Apr. 1999; DECA Equipo Puebo 27 Apr. 1999; Rotella 1998, 98; IACHR 1998, para 323). In some states this force is called the ministerial police, because they work under the direct supervision of the public ministry (Ruiz Harrell 19 May 1999, HRW Jan. 1999, 34)

LMDDH Liga Mexicana por la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos (Mexican League for the Defence of Human Rights), a non-governmental organization in Mexico City concerned with human rights, affiliated with the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), based in Paris

PA Policía auxiliar (auxiliary police)

PGJE Procuraduría General de Justicia del Estado (attorney general on the state level)

PGR Procuraduría General de la República (federal attorney general)

PP Policía preventiva (preventive police)

Preventive police For the purposes of this paper, the term “preventive police” is used in two ways: to refer to all police forces except the judicial police; and to refer to members of municipal or (non-judicial) state police forces who are not members of a more specialized sub-division within the force, such as the traffic police or the auxiliary police. Which of the two meanings is being used should be clear from the context

PRI Partido Revolucionario Institucional (Institutional Revolutionary Party). The long-standing ruling party in Mexico

PRODH Centro de Derechos Humanos “Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez” (Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez” Human Rights Centre): a non-governmental organization in Mexico City concerned with human rights, founded by the Jesuit religious order of the Catholic Church

Public ministry The arm of the attorney general's office that investigates and prosecutes crimes (HRW Jan. 1999, 34)

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SSP Secretaría de Seguridad Pública (Secretariat of Public Security: the local government departments responsible for the police in DF and also in the state of Tabasco go by this name)

Note on terminology This paper contains many Spanish terms that have been assigned unofficial English

translations. The term policía can mean “police officer” as well as “police force,” and in some cases policía is a hierarchical term, designating low-ranking members of a police force. When used in this sense, the word has been translated as “constable.” The term “constable” has been chosen in order to avoid unwieldy constructions such as “policeman/woman,” “patrolman/woman,” “policeperson” or “patrolperson,” and also to avoid the term “police officer.” “Police officer” has been avoided as potentially confusing because some Mexican police forces use the Spanish word oficial to refer to members of the force who are “officers” as the term is commonly used in English in a military sense, i.e. high-ranking members of the force. Thus oficial has been translated as “officer.” The judicial police rank jefe de grupo has been translated as “group leader.”

1. INTRODUCTION

This paper provides technical information on the various police forces in Mexico.

Wherever possible names of police forces are provided, as is information about chains of

command, ranks and institutional divisions within police forces. In the few instances in which

information has been found about uniforms, weapons, vehicles and numbers of operatives, that

information has been presented. Although most of the information provided is about agencies

specifically called “police” forces, the title of section 3 refers to “law enforcement agencies”

because an effort has been made to include information about specialized agencies that have

narrowly-defined mandates, such as drugs or migration.

Although security guards employed by private companies are often referred to in Spanish

in Mexican and other sources as “private police” (policías particulares), this paper does not

provide information on the private security industry.

2. OVERVIEW OF POLICE POWERS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The total number of police forces in Mexico is very large; estimates range from about

1,000 to over 4,000 (Excélsior 4 May 1998; Latin American Regional Reports: Mexico and

NAFTA Report 22 Sept. 1998, 4; Ruiz Harrell 19 May 1999). There are 33 judicial police

(policía judicial) forces: one federal judicial police force, 31 state judicial police forces and the

Federal District judicial police force (Excélsior 4 May 1998), with a total of 24,000 members

(ibid.; La Jornada 20 Aug. 1998). About 4,000 of these members are under federal jurisdiction

and the remainder are under state and DF jurisdiction (Becerril 7 July 1999). Most of the

remaining police forces are municipal preventive police forces (Excélsior 4 May 1998). There

are over 200,000 preventative police in the country (ibid.; La Jornada 20 Aug. 1998). Mexican

police forces are controlled by various government departments at the state and federal level,

including the departments of Communications and Transportation, Agriculture, Livestock and

Administrative Development, Comptroller, Environment, Health, and Treasury and Public Credit

(Excélsior 4 May 1998).

There is a basic dichotomy between judicial police and other police forces in Mexico.

This dichotomy applies on both the federal and state levels, and stems from the fact that the

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judicial police are attached to the attorney general’s offices (Procuraduría General de la

República: PGR at the federal level, and Procuraduría General de Justicia del Estado: PGJE at

the state level) in the various states and in the Federal District–Distrito Federal: DF (Embassy of

Mexico 14 Apr. 1999; AI 9 Mar. 1999 section 1; DECA Equipo Pueblo 27 Apr. 1999). The most

important official role of the judicial police is to assist the attorney general’s offices, specifically

the public ministries (ministerios públicos) (Rotella 1998, 98; IACHR 1998, para. 323). The

public ministry is the section of the federal or state attorney general's office that is responsible

for investigating serious crimes and prosecuting suspects (HRW Jan. 1999, 34; IACHR 1998,

para. 323).

In some states the name of the police force attached to the attorney general’s office has

been changed from judicial police to ministerial police (policía ministerial). This change is in

name only, not in function: according to Mexican criminologist Rafael Ruiz Harrell the name

“judicial police” stems from the fact that before the 1917 constitution, certain police agents were

assigned to investigative duties in which they answered to an instruction judge (juez de

instrucción), whose job was not to hand down sentences (which was the role of the case judge–

juez de la causa), but to gather information related to the case. Since these police agents were

responsible to a judge, who was an official of the judiciary, they were called “judicial police.”

Under the 1917 constitution, the post of instruction judge was eliminated and replaced with

representatives of the public ministry (Ruiz Harrell 19 May 1999). Since the promulgation of the

1917 constitution, public ministry representatives have done almost all the work that had been

done by the instruction judges (Ruiz Harrell 19 May 1999). The recent move in some states to

change the name of the judicial police to ministerial police is meant to reflect the long-standing

fact that they work for the public ministry (ibid.; see also HRW Jan. 1999, 34).

The state judicial police investigates crimes involving violations of state law (DECA

Equipo Pueblo 27 Apr. 1999), and the federal judicial police investigates crimes involving

violations of federal law, such as crimes involving drugs and firearms for example (Rotella 1998,

98; DECA Equipo Pueblo 27 Apr. 1999). The role of the judicial police is set out in article 21 of

Mexico’s constitution, which stipulates that the investigation and prosecution of crimes is the

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responsibility of the public ministry, which will be assisted by a police force under its authority

and immediate command (México 31 Jan. 1917).1

Members of judicial police forces, both at the state and federal levels, often wear civilian

clothes while on duty (Carmona 26 May 1999; Reding May 1995, section 6b), and when they

wear uniforms they do not wear traditional-type police uniforms (Ruiz Harrell 19 May 1999);

they wear specialized dark clothes (La Jornada 14 Mar. 1998; Carmona 26 May 1999; López

González 20 May 1999), and t-shirts and/or jackets and baseball-type caps emblazoned with the

letters “PJE” (for Policía Judicial del Estado) or “PJF” (for Policía Judicial Federal) to identify

themselves as police, analogous to similar clothing sometimes worn by FBI agents in the United

States (Carmona 26 May 1999; Ruiz Harrell 19 May 1999; López González 20 May 1999). In

addition, judicial/ministerial police agents often use unmarked vehicles, often without licence

plates (Ruiz Harrell 19 May 1999; Carmona 26 May 1999; Reding May 1995, section 6b).

The vast majority of police in Mexico are not judicial police. Non-judicial police in

Mexico are often referred to as preventive police (policía preventiva) (CDHM 17 June 1999), in

order to distinguish them from the judical police and to indicate their primarily preventive, as

opposed to investigative, role in the justice system (DECA Equipo Pueblo 27 Apr. 1999). In

addition, non-judicial police forces are also often referred to as “public security police,” because

the state and municipal government departments responsible for them are often called the

directorate or secretariat of public security (for examples, see section 4, below). Preventive

police forces in Mexico primarily deal with minor offences, such as violations of municipal by-

laws (for example, the Government and Civic Justice Regulation–Reglamento Gubernativo y de

Justicia Cívica–in DF, and the Police and Good Government Edict–Bando de Policía y Buen

Gobierno–in Aguascalientes and Tijuana) (Gómez Barrera 22 June 1999; CJA Aug.-Sept. 1995).

By-laws such as these define minor infractions such as disturbing the peace or drinking alcohol

on the street. (Gómez Barrera 22 June 1999). If preventive police catch someone in the act of

violating one of these by-laws, they take the person to a municipal judge, who may impose a

fine, or a period of detention of up to 36 hours (ibid.). If preventive police catch someone in the

act of committing a serious crime, the case is turned over to the public ministry, and comes under

the jurisdiction of the judicial police (ibid.). The new Federal Preventive Police (Policía Federal

1 The text of the constitution can be accessed in Spanish through the Website of the lower house of Mexico’s federal legislature, the Chamber of Deputies, at < http://www.camaradediputados.gob.mx/ >.

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Preventiva: PFP), created in 1999, comes under the purview of the federal Ministry of the

Interior (Secretaría de Gobernación) (Embassy of Mexico 14 Apr. 1999) (for more information

on the PFP, see section 3).

As a rule, police forces in Mexico carry firearms, but members of certain police forces,

such as municipal traffic police and auxiliary police, are not always armed while on duty

(PRODH 2 June 1999). The regulation governing police use of firearms requires that members of

police forces turn in their duty firearms when they go off duty, but the Mexican human rights

organization PRODH states that this regulation is not always respected, especially in the case of

the Federal Judicial Police (Policía Judicial Federal: PJF) (ibid.).

Information on the organization of police forces and the role of the public ministry in

Mexico can also be found in Response to Information Request MEX20897.E of 23 August 1995,

and the October 1997 IRB publication Mexico: Internal Flight Alternatives. Both publications

are available in the IRB Regional Documentation Centres and IRB databases. Mexico: Internal

Flight Alternatives is also available on the IRB Website at < www.irb.gc.ca >.

3. LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES UNDER FEDERAL JURISDICTION

3.1 PJF (Federal Judicial Police–Policía Judicial Federal) The main law enforcement agency under federal jurisdiction is the PJF (CJA Aug.-Sept.

1995). Members of the PJF number about 4,000 throughout the country (La Jornada 20 Feb.

1999). The PJF is divided into units determined by population (CJA Aug.-Sept. 1995). Typically

a city is a PJF unit, and a rural PJF unit is responsible for a large area of the countryside (ibid.).

The lowest-ranking members of the PJF are called agents (agentes). Each agent reports to a

group leader (jefe de grupo)2, who in turn reports to a commander (comandante), who heads the

unit (ibid.). Each commander in a given state reports to the State Commander of the Federal

Judicial Police (Delegado Estatal de la Policía Judicial Federal), who in turn reports to the

Director of the Federal Judicial Police in DF. The Director reports to the federal attorney general,

who reports to the President of the Republic (CJA Aug.-Sept. 1995). All agents must have

attained a level of education above secondary school, and must attend a one-year training course

2 While the CJA report translates jefe de grupo as assistant commander, for the purposes of this report the term will be translated as group leader.

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at the training institute of the office of the federal attorney general in Mexico City (Procuraduría

General de la República May 1999).

3.2 PFP (Federal Preventive Police–Policía Federal Preventiva) In late 1998 the Mexican congress passed a bill creating a new federal police force, the

Federal Preventive Police (New York Times 15 Dec. 1998). The decree was published in the

official gazette on 4 January 1999 (Embassy of Mexico 14 Apr. 1999). The PFP is scheduled to

begin functioning at full capacity with 10,000 agents in 2000 (La Jornada 1 Apr. 1999; Excélsior

9 Jan. 1999; see also The Houston Chronicle 17 Nov. 1998). Three federal police forces, i.e. the

Federal Highway Police, the Fiscal Police and the Migration Police, are being unified to create

the new force (La Jornada 16 Nov. 1998; New York Times 15 Dec. 1998; Excélsior 5 Jan 1999),

whose role is to focus on preventing federal crimes committed on the national level and to

respond to calls for help from the public ministry (La Jornada 1 Apr. 1999).

In April 1999 Omar Fayad Meneses was appointed Commissioner of the PFP (La

Jornada 1 Apr. 1999; Embassy of Mexico 14 Apr. 1999) and Wilfrido Robledo Madrid was

appointed Assistant Commissioner of the PFP by the President of Mexico (La Jornada 1 Apr.

1999).

The PFP, while not fully formed, began operation in April 1999 with a core group of 700

members working on combating kidnapping (La Jornada 5 Apr. 1999). Commissioner Fayad

Meneses stated that a new unified computer database is being created for the entire country for

the purposes of preventive police intelligence (ibid.).

3.3 Special Prosecutor’s Office for Crimes Against Health

The federal anti-drug agency, the National Institute to Combat Drugs (INCD), was

abolished by presidential decree on 30 April 1997 and replaced with the Special Prosecutor’s

Office for Crimes Against Health (Fiscalía Especializada para la Atención de Delitos Contra la

Salud) (Excélsior 2 May 1997; Clarín 2 May 1997), headed by Mariano Herran Salvatti (La

Jornada 28 Mar. 1999; Excélsior 2 May 1997), the former head of the INCD (ibid.). The agency,

a dependency of the federal attorney general's office, investigates and prosecutes crimes

involving illegal drugs (Procuraduría General de la República 22 Sept. 1997). It has 973 agents

(La Jornada 18 Feb. 1999).

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3.4 General Directorate of Security Supervision and Regulation

In late summer 1998 a new federal force was created, under the control of the Ministry of

the Interior, called the General Directorate of Security Supervision and Regulation (Dirección

General de Normatividad y Supervisión en Seguridad: DGNSS) (La Jornada 1 Sept. 1998;

Mexico and NAFTA Report 22 Sept. 1998, 4; El Universal 20 Oct. 1998). Among the functions

of the force is the coordination of the operations of different police forces at the federal, state and

municipal levels, the issuance of firearms licences for federal employees and members of police

forces, and the supervision of private security companies (Secretaría de Gobernación n.d.;

Mexico and NAFTA Report 22 Sept. 1998, 4).

4. POLICE FORCES UNDER STATE JURISDICTION (INCLUDING DF)

As noted above, most states have two basic groupings within the police at the state level:

the state judicial police (policía judicial estatal, now called ministerial police in some states),

and the public security police (policía de seguridad pública) (CJA Aug-Sept. 1995). The state

judicial police are responsible for investigating serious crimes (ibid.; Secretaría de Gobernación

n.d.; Rotella 1998, 98; IACHR 1998, para. 323).

The remainder of this section is divided by state, and is intended to provide as much

practical information as available in the sources consulted about non-federal police forces within

the states, especially the names of the various police forces, organization of the police forces, and

the government departments responsible for them. Much of the information was obtained from

state government Internet Websites. It has not been possible to find information on all of

Mexico’s 31 states (32 including DF), and it has not been possible to find information on both

the judicial and non-judicial branches of the police for all of the states for which information was

found. The states’ populations as of 1997 are provided, as are the names of the states’ capital

cities, except in the case of DF. The states are listed in declining order of population based on

their populations in 1997, the last year for which statistics are available.3

4.1 México

(population: 12,222,891; capital: Toluca)

3 All population figures were accessed on 13 April 1999 from the Mexican government Website, Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática, México: Población Total Según Entidad Federativa 1990-1997 at < http://www.inegi.gob.mx/poblacion/espanol/estrupob/pob_01.html >, accessed 13 April 1999.

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The state of México has a judicial police force (Estado de México 2 Apr. 1996), and the

state Ministry of the Interior has a General Directorate of Public Security and Traffic (Dirección

General de Seguridad Pública y Tránsito) that is responsible for the state public security

(preventive) police force (ibid. 26 Dec. 1985). There are about 16,500 police in the state of

México (Excélsior 4 May 1998), of whom about 15,000 are preventive and the remainder

judicial (ibid.; CDHM 17 June 1999). The ranks of the public security police are constable

(policía), officer (oficial) and commander (comandante) (Estado de México 26 Dec. 1985).

The uniforms of the members of the state and municipal preventive police forces in

México state are white and navy blue (CDHM 17 June 1999). State traffic police wear green and

white uniforms (ibid.).

4.2 Distrito Federal (DF)

(population: 8,520,090)

DF is divided into 52 (sectores policiacos) (La Jornada 7 Mar. 1999; Alcantar 17 June

1999). DF has police precincts a judicial police force, which numbers over 3,000 members

(Miami Herald 12 Dec. 1997; Cox News Service 21 Mar. 1998; Excélsior 4 May 1998; IPS

4 Sept. 1998; New York Times News Service 24 Nov. 1998).

The DF public security police is divided into the preventive police (PP) and the

complementary police (policía complementaria), the latter including the auxiliary police (policía

auxiliar: PA) and the bank and industrial (bancaria e industrial) police (Distrito Federal 19 July

1993, Art. 5).

According to a representative of the DF Secretariat of Public Security (Secretaría de

Seguridad Pública: SSP), the SSP’s police forces number 91,000 members, of whom 34,000 are

preventive police and the remaining 57,000 are auxiliary and bank and industrial police

(Alcantar 17 June 1999). The PP and the PA wear navy blue uniforms, except those in traffic

departments of the respective forces, who wear brown uniforms, and the members of the

Women’s Unit (Unidad Femenil), who wear either (ibid.).

The PA is a uniformed force which in 1996 had 434 patrol cars (La Jornada 11 Feb.

1996). The PA performs functions similar to those of the PP, but in general it is considered to

provide a support role (auxiliar) to the PP (PRODH 2 June 1999). Members of the PA are

assigned to tasks that involve providing police protection to specific sectors of the community,

for example, guarding the premises of businesses (The Seattle Times 24 Nov. 1998; PRODH

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2 June 1999; see also La Jornada 11 Feb. 1996). In addition to their more standard police work,

the PA provide security services on a private basis (La Jornada 11 Feb. 1996; The Seattle Times

24 Nov. 1998). Further information on the PA can be found in Response to Information Request

MEX30244.E of 9 October 1998, available in the Regional Documentation Centres, in the IRB

REFINFO database, and in the IRB Website at < www.irb.gc.ca >.

The PP are divided into the following ranks: General Superintendent (Superintendente

General), First Superintendent (Primer Superintendente), Second Superintendent (Segundo

Superintendente), First Inspector (Primer Inspector), Second Inspector (Segundo Inspector),

Deputy Inspector (Sub-Inspector), First Officer (Primer Oficial), Second Officer (Segundo

Oficial), Deputy Officer (Sub-Oficial), First Constable (Policía Primero), Second Constable

(Policía Segundo), Third Constable (Policía Tercero) and Constable (Policía) (Distrito Federal

6 July 1984, Art 12).

4.3 Veracruz

(population: 6,856,415; capital: Jalapa)

Veracruz has a judicial police force (Procuraduría General de Justicia del Estado de

Veracruz 11 June 1999a). The Veracruz judicial police has 627 members and 5 regional

coordinators throughout the state, and the judicial police has 283 vehicles (ibid.). The ranks in

the Veracruz PJ are regional coordinator (coordinador regional), regional commander

(comandante regional), group leader (jefe de grupo) and agent (agente) (LMDDH 18 Mar.

1997). In addition to the state judicial police, Veracruz has a state public security police

(PRODH n.d.).

4.4 Jalisco

(population: 6,161,437; capital: Guadalajara)

According to a representative of the Jalisco Investigatory Police, the state judicial police

force changed its name to the investigatory police in July 1998 (Jalisco Investigatory Police

9 June 1999; see also Estado de Jalisco 15 Jan. 1998). The Jalisco Investigatory Police has about

850 agents on active police duty (operativos), and about 150 administrative staff

(administrativos) (Jalisco Investigatory Police 9 June 1999).

In addition to the Investigatory Police, the Jalisco state government department, called the

State General Directorate of Security (Dirección General de Seguridad del Estado), is

responsible for the following police bodies: the preventive police; the motorized patrol squad

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(escuadrón de autopatrullas); the auxiliary police (policía auxiliar), whose duties include

guarding public buildings and state property; and the support squad (escuadrón de apoyo), whose

duties include riot and crowd control, and bank security in the city of Guadalajara (Estado de

Jalisco 24 March 1999).

4.5 Puebla

(population: 4,792,156; capital: Puebla)

The state of Puebla has a judicial police force, which has approximately 900 agents on

active police duty (operativos) (Puebla Judicial Police 2 June 1999; Miranda San Román 18 June

1999) and approximately 150 administrative staff (administrativos) (ibid.). In addition, the state

General Directorate of Public Security and Traffic (Dirección General de Seguridad Pública y

Vialidad del Estado: DGSPV) controls three main police forces: the first of these is the police

force of the Directorate of Preventive Police (Dirección de la Policía Preventiva: DPP) (Miranda

San Román 18 June 1999), which is state-wide. It numbers about 3,000 members, about half of

whom have been lent to the city of Puebla police force for a period of three years starting in

January 1999 (ibid.). This force wears black uniforms (ibid.). The second force under DGSPV

jurisdiction is the police of the Directorate of Traffic Security (Dirección de Seguridad Vial). Its

members do not carry guns, and their jurisdiction is restricted to traffic. Their powers of arrest

are restricted to traffic violations, drunk drivers, etc. (ibid.). The state traffic police number

almost 1,000, and 400 of them have been lent to the Puebla city traffic police for a three-year

period, starting in January 1999 (ibid.). Members of this force wear green uniforms with white

shirts (ibid.). The third force controlled by the Puebla state DGSPV is the police of the

Directorate of Auxiliary Police (Dirección de la Policía Auxiliar del Estado: DPA). This is an

armed force whose main duty is to guard private businesses which pay for their services.

Occasionally the DPA police are called upon by the DPP (Dirección de la Policía Preventiva)

police to help out (ibid.). Members of the DPA police wear navy blue uniforms, with white

stripes. This force numbers 300-400 (ibid.).

4.6 Guanajuato

(population: 4,478,673; capital: Guanajuato)

Guanajuato has a judicial police force, which numbers 342 members (López González

20 May 1999). The force is divided into groups (grupos) by district or town. In addition, the state

is divided into four regions for the purpose of the operations of the state attorney general

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(Procuraduría General de Justicia: PGJ), within each of which the operations of the judicial

police are headed by a regional deputy coordinator (sub-coordinador) (Procuraduría de Justicia

del Estado de Guanajuato n.d.a). Region A is based in León, region B is based in Irapuato, region

C is based in Celaya and region D is based in San Miguel de Allende (ibid.). Francisco Javier

López González is the coordinator of the state judicial police (ibid.; López González 20 May

1999). The uniform of the judicial police is dark blue military type pants and a grey t-shirt with

“PJE Guanajuato” written on the back, and a baseball-type hat featuring the same words (López

Gonazález 20 May 1999).

In Guanajuato, the state Secretariat of Government is responsible for the General

Directorate of Public Security (Dirección General de Seguridad Pública del Estado), and

although the state’s Website does not provide detailed information about specific police bodies,

it does refer to the Directorate’s role in reducing and preventing crime in the state and in

supplying police equipment, such as vehicles, helmets and weapons, to the various police bodies

in the state (Estado de Guanajuato 24 Mar. 1999; ibid. n.d.).

4.7 Michoacán

(population: 3,925,450; capital: Morelia)

Michoacán has a ministerial police under the state attorney general and a state preventive

police force under the Directorate of Public Security and Traffic (Estado de Michoacán 27 Aug.

1998).

4.8 Nuevo León

(population: 3,684,845; capital: Monterrey)

Nuevo León has a ministerial police (Estado de Nuevo León n.d.; El Norte 23 Feb. 1999;

ibid. 26 Apr. 1999). In addition, the state preventive police, called the public security police,

contains the following sub-divisions: the youth unit (unidad juvenil), the troopers’ unit (unidad

de elementos de tropa)4, the radio patrol squad (escuadrón de radio patrullas), the grenadiers

and anti-riot unit (unidad de granaderas y antimotines), the rescue unit (unidad de rescate), the

rural police (jefatura de la policía rural) (Estado de Nuevo León 19 Jan. 1983, Arts. 31, 33, 35,

38, 42, 52) and the auxiliary police (ibid. June 1998).

4 In this context elementos de tropa refers to the rank-and-file members of the force; i.e. those who are not “officers” in the sense of the word as it is used to refer to high-ranking members of a military or police force.

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The state public security law refers to the following ranks in the public security police:

general (general), colonel (coronel), lieutenant colonel (teniente coronel), major (mayor), first

captain (capitán 1), second captain (capitán 2), lieutenant (teniente), sub-lieutenant

(subteniente), first sergeant (sargento 1) and second sergeant (sargento 2) (ibid.19 Jan. 1983,

Art. 14).

4.9 Chiapas

(population: 3,637,142; capital: Tuxtla Gutiérrez)

Chiapas has a judicial police force (Estado de Chiapas 19 July 1989; ibid. 1999). In

addition, it has a public security police (Estado de Chiapas 19 July 1989; La Jornada 11 June

1998), traffic police and auxiliary police (Estado de Chiapas 19 July 1989).

4.10 Oaxaca

(population: 3,286,175; capital: Oaxaca)

Oaxaca has a judicial police force (PRODH n.d.; El Imparcial 19 Apr. 1999; La Jornada

14 May 1999).

The state Public Security Directorate (Dirección de Seguridad Pública) operates three

police forces which have jurisdiction throughout the state, according to an official of the

directorate (Camarena Flores 29 June 1999). They are the preventive police (PP), the auxiliary

police (PA), and the traffic police. These forces number about 4,700 members; all are armed

while on duty (ibid.). The PP and the PA wear blue uniforms, but the PA wear shirts of a lighter

shade of blue than those of the PP (ibid.). The traffic police wear brown uniforms (ibid.). The PA

guard businesses, which pay the state for this service. (ibid.).

Some municipalities (municipios) in the state have their own municipal traffic police,

who are not armed (ibid.). Some municipalities also have their own municipal PP, who are armed

in some municipalities and unarmed in others (ibid.).

4.11 Guerrero

(population: 2,994,365; capital: Chilpancingo)

Guerrero has a judicial police force (La Jornada 12 July 1998; ibid. 28 July 1998; ibid.

15 Feb. 1999; Periódico Público 30 Oct. 1998; Reforma 5 Mar. 1999). As well, the state

Directorate of Protection and Traffic, under the jurisdiction of the General Secretariat of

12

Government, operates a state preventive police force and a state traffic police (Estado de

Guerrero 15 Feb. 1999; PRODH n.d.; Alarcón Hernández 7 July 1999).

In addition, at the municipal level there is a force called the community police (policía

comunitaria), which consists of police who are appointed by the citizens of their community and

who receive no pay, and the neighbourhood police (policía de barrio), who are a guarding force,

similar to auxiliary police in other jurisdictions, who are paid by the local residents in the areas

where they perform their duties (Alarcón Hernández 7 July 1999).

4.12 Chihuahua

(population: 2,895,672; capital: Chihuahua)

Chihuahua has a judicial police force (Procuraduría General de Justicia del Estado de

Chihuahua Feb. 1998; Diario Digital 20 Apr. 1999). The force contains the following special

units for: Crimes Against Life and Physical Integrity, Livestock Robbery, Sexual Crimes and

Crimes Against the Family, Various Crimes , Arrest Warrants, Robberies and Assaults, Fraud,

Detainees, Special Investigations, Kidnapping and Personal Security, and the “Orion” Group,

which coordinates with the Federal Judicial Police and the municipal police on inter-

jurisdictional matters (Procuraduría General de Justicia del Estado de Chihuahua Feb. 1998).

An article in the Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua newspaper Diario Digital refers to the Ciudad

Juárez municipal police as being under the overall authority of the Directorate of Municipal

Public Security (Dirección de Seguridad Pública Municipal), which is further subdivided into the

Operative and Preventive subdirectorates (25 Jan. 1999). In addition, the article mentions the

following special groups within the Municipal Police: the canine unit, the motorcycle police, the

mounted police, and the Special Unit of Preventive Investigation (ibid.).

4.13 Tamaulipas

(population: 2,628,839; capital: Ciudad Victoria)

Tamaulipas has a ministerial police force (Procuraduría General de Justicia, Tamaulipas

1999).

In addition, the state has a General Directorate of Public Security (Dirección General de

Seguridad Pública), under the state Secretariat of Government, which maintains four state police

forces (Lirach Gómez 15 July 1999). The rural state police (policía rural del estado) provide

public security in rural areas (ibid.). Members of this force are armed and wear green uniforms;

they use both green and white vehicles (ibid.). The operative corps of citizen protection (cuerpo

13

operativo de protección ciudadana) is similar to the rural state police, but it operates in the

state’s municipalities (ibid.). Members of this force are armed, wear black uniforms and use

white and green vehicles (ibid.). The traffic police (tránsito y vialidad) wear brown uniforms,

use white vehicles with brown stripes, and most are armed (ibid.). The traffic police operate

state-wide, including in most municipalities, by arrangement with the municipal governments

(ibid.). The integral police (policía integral) is a guard force whose services are paid for by

businesses and residents who benefit from their service (ibid.). Members of this force are armed,

wear bluish-grey uniforms and use white vehicles (ibid.). The integral police is analogous to the

auxiliary police in other states and in DF (ibid.).

The municipalities in Tamaulipas have their own municipal police forces, but the chief of

police in each municipality is appointed by the state governor (ibid.).

4.14 Sinaloa

(population: 2,509,142; capital: Culiacán)

Sinaloa has a judicial police force (Estado de Sinaloa 12 Mar. 1999; ibid. 4 Apr. 1986).

Other police forces in the state, which are under the purview of the Citizens’ Protection

Secretariat (Secretaría de Protección Ciudadana), include the specialized police (policía

especializada) and the intermunicipal police (policía intermunicipal) (Estado de Sinaloa 12 Mar.

1999). The latter is described as a task force to help municipalities in the state with public

security problems and to respond to emergencies (ibid.).

4.15 San Luis Potosí

(population: 2,247,042; capital: San Luis Potosí)

San Luis Potosí has a ministerial police force and a state preventive police force called

the General Directorate of Social Protection and Traffic (Dirección General de Protección Social

y Vialidad: DGPSV ). Members of the preventive police force are armed (Díaz García 21 June

1999). Their uniforms have dark grey pants with navy blue stripes and navy blue jackets (ibid.).

Their patrol cars are white with a light blue stripe (ibid.).

There are 58 municipalities in San Luis Potosí, all of which have their own preventive

police and most of which have their own traffic police (ibid.). Members of municipal police

forces in San Luis Potosí are not armed (ibid.).

14

4.16 Baja California

(population: 2,241,029; capital: Mexicali)

The Baja California state judicial police force (PJE) changed its name to ministerial

police in 1998 (San Diego Union-Tribune 31 Oct. 1998; see also El Cachanía 22 July 1998).

There are about 300 agents of the state ministerial police in the city of Tijuana alone (Reyes

Luviano 18 June 1999). They sometimes wear civilian clothes, but when they wear uniforms,

they wear black clothes with the letters PGJE (for Procuraduría General de Justicia del Estado)

on the back (ibid.).

The entire territory of the state is covered by the five municipalities of Mexicali, Tecate,

Tijuana, Ensenada and Rosarito (Inojos Robles 18 June 1999), and every municipality has its

own preventive police force (ibid.; Reyes Luviano 18 June 1999). Apart from the ministerial

police, there is no state police force in Baja California (ibid.; Inojos Robles 18 June 1999). In

Tijuana there are two main municipal police forces: the preventive police and the auxiliary police

(Reyes Luviano 18 June 1999). Members of both forces wear beige uniforms with black hats

(ibid.). The preventive police are armed, but the auxiliary police are not (ibid.). The auxiliary

police are identified by the word “auxiliar” on their badges, and they perform mainly guard duty;

they are paid by local residents and businesspeople in the areas where they provide guard

services (ibid.). The municipal police of Mexicali has 1,109 members in the preventive and

traffic sections, all of whom are armed (Inojos Robles 18 June 1999).

4.17 Coahuila

(population: 2,227,305; capital: Saltillo)

Coahuila has a ministerial police force (Procuraduría General de Justicia, Coahuila n.d.;

LMDDH 18 Mar. 1997; Estado de Coahuila. 26 January 1996). A government report on the state

Website states that in 1995, the ministerial police had 297 patrol cars and 457 firearms (ibid.).

The state General Directorate of Public Security (Dirección General de Seguridad

Pública: DGSP), under the jurisdiction of the state Secretariat of Government (Secretaría de

Gobierno) operates a state police force which is both a preventive and a traffic police force

(Villalobos Romero 30 June 1999). The 458 members of the Coahuila DGSP police are armed

while on duty, and wear two types of uniforms: the dress uniform is grey with a navy blue tie and

jacket; the regular uniform is navy blue with a navy blue beret (ibid.). Commanding officers

wear white shirts instead of blue ones (ibid.). The force uses white vehicles (ibid.).

15

The state is divided into five regions for the purpose of DGSP police operations, each one

headed by a commander (comandante), and the Director General of the force also holds the rank

of commander (ibid.). For operative purposes, the force is divided into five subdirectorates:

Administrative, Juridical, Operative, Technical and Coordination and Control (ibid.). The first

two subdirectorates are headed by civilians, the others by police (ibid.).

4.18 Sonora

(population: 2,183,108; capital: Hermosillo)

Sonora has a judicial police force (Estado de Sonora 16 Oct. 1998; Procuraduría General

de Justicia del Estado de Sonora 23 Feb. 1999). Other police forces in the state include the

preventive police and the traffic police, which are under exclusive municipal jurisdiction in

Sonora (ibid.; Vega Cota 30 June 1999). All preventive and traffic police in the state carry guns

while on duty (ibid.). Although there is no state preventive or traffic police force, the state

government, through the State Coordination of Preventive Police and Traffic (Coordinación

Estatal de Policía Preventiva y Tránsito), under the state Secretariat of Government (Secretaría

de Gobierno), coordinates the activities of the different municipal police forces in the state

(ibid.).

4.19 Tabasco

(population: 1,817,703; capital: Villahermosa)

Tabasco has a judicial police force (Estado de Tabasco n.d.).

In addition, the state has a preventive police force called the Secretariat of Public Security

Police (Secretaría de Seguridad Pública: SSP) (Saucedo López 21 June 1999; Chávez Cleofas

21 June 1999). The members wear blue uniforms and drive blue cars (ibid.; Saucedo López

21 June 1999). The state traffic police, which is part of the SSP, has brown uniforms and brown

cars (ibid.; Chávez Cleofas 21 June 1999). In addition, every municipality in the state has its own

preventive police, but no traffic police; traffic police are under state jurisdiction only (ibid.).

4.20 Yucatán

(population: 1,617,120; capital: Mérida)

Yucatán has a judicial police force (Estado de Yucatán 5 Dec. 1998). The state Secretariat

of Protection and Traffic Control (Secretaría de Protección y Vialidad) is responsible for a state

force known as the Yucatán Police (Policía de Yucatán) as well as a tourist police force (policía

16

turística) (ibid.). The Secretariat also provides a traffic assistance service (auxilio vial), whose

members provide assistance to motorists in difficulty (ibid.).

4.21 Morelos

(population: 1,496,030; capital: Cuernavaca)

The police force attached to the Morelos attorney general’s office is known as the judicial

police (Estado de Morelos 1998). The Morelos judicial police usually use dark brown cars

(PRODH n.d.). There was a special group within the judicial police, called the anti-kidnapping

group (grupo antisecuestros), members of which allegedly carried out kidnappings (El Universal

3 Feb. 1998; La Jornada 25 May 1998; HRW Jan. 1999, 97-99). The group was disbanded in

May 1998 (PRODH n.d.).

The Secretariat of Public Security and Social Readaptation (Secretaría de Seguridad

Pública y Readaptación Social) is the Morelos state government department responsible for the

following police bodies: the Directorate of Preventive Police (Dirección de Policía Preventiva)

and the Directorate of the Industrial, Bank and Auxiliary Police (Dirección de Policía Industrial,

Bancaria y Auxiliar) (Estado de Morelos 1998). The industrial, bank and auxiliary police are also

known as the complementary police (policía complementaria) (Estado de Morelos 1 Sept. 1993,

Art. 3).

4.22 Durango

(population: 1,449,036; capital: Durango)

Durango has a state judicial police force (Procuraduría General de Justicia, Durango

1999; El Sol de Durango 13 Jan. 1999a; ibid. 13 Jan 1999c; ibid. 16 Jan. 1999). In addition, the

city of Durango has a police force known as “Protección Ciudadana” (ibid. 21 Sept. 1998; ibid.

13 Jan. 1999c). Preventive police in Durango are under municipal jurisdiction, and all 39

municipalities in the state have their own armed preventive police forces (Gamero Meza 21 June

1999). There is a state traffic police force, whose members wear beige uniforms and use white

and navy blue vehicles (ibid.).

17

4.23 Zacatecas

(population: 1,332,683; capital: Zacatecas)

Zacatecas has a ministerial police force (Dirección General de la Policía Ministerial del

Estado de Zacatecas) (Estado de Zacatecas n.d.b; Notimex 19 Mar. 1999; ibid. 30 Mar. 1999).

The state also has preventive police and traffic police forces (Estado de Zacatecas n.d.a).

4.24 Querétaro

(population: 1,297,575; capital: Querétaro)

The Querétaro attorney general’s office has an investigatory ministerial police force

(Policía Investigadora Ministerial) (Estado de Querétaro 26 July 1998; ibid. 20 Mar. 1997, Art.

11; Rojano Esquivel 22 June 1999).

The other main force in the state is the police of the General Directorate of Public

Security and Traffic (Dirección General de Seguridad Pública y Tránsito) (ibid.). This is both a

regular state and traffic police force, and its members wear brown uniforms and drive white and

brown cars (ibid.).

In addition, each of the state’s 18 municipalities has its own preventive police force

(ibid.). Their uniforms are blue and white uniforms, and their cars are different colours in

different municipalities (ibid.). Both state and municipal preventive police carry guns in

Querétaro (ibid.). The state also has jurisdiction over a force called the bank and industrial police

(policía bancaria e industrial) (ibid.). Members of this force wear blue and red uniforms and

drive navy blue vehicles (ibid.). Normally they are armed only with nightsticks (toletes), with the

exception of those who guard banks (ibid.). These police are paid both by the state and by the

businesses they guard (ibid.).

4.25 Nayarit

(population: 903,886; capital: Tepic)

Nayarit has a judicial police force (Estado de Nayarit n.d.; Nayarit Judicial Police 22 June

1999). The hierarchy within the force is as follows, in ascending order: “B” Agent, “A” Agent,

Group Leader and Commander (Nayarit Judicial Police 22 June 1999; Estado de Nayarit n.d); in

addition, there is a newly-created post of coordinator (ibid.). In 1997 there were 658 state judicial

police agents (Estado de Nayarit n.d.).

Apart from the judicial police, there is no state police force in Nayarit, because preventive

police are under municipal jurisdiction in that state (Nayarit Judicial Police 30 June 1999).

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4.26 Aguascalientes

(population: 888,444; capital: Aguascalientes)

The state of Aguascalientes is virtually a “city-state,” measuring 5,500 square kilometers

(Gómez Barrera 22 June 1999). Eighty per cent of the state’s population lives in the state capital,

the city of Aguascalientes (ibid.). The state has a judicial police force (Procuraduría General de

Justicia, Aguascalientes 10 Mar. 1997; Estado de Aguascalientes. n.d.).

The General Directorate of Public Security and Traffic (Dirección General de Seguridad

Pública y Vialidad) is a preventive police force with state jurisdiction that patrols state roads and

the premises of state property, and also is available to help municipal police (Gómez Barrera

22 June 1999). The 70 members of this force are armed and wear black and beige uniforms in the

day and white and beige uniforms at night (ibid.).

Members of the municipal preventive and traffic police in Aguascalientes are also armed

(ibid.). Municipal preventive police, which number 1,800, wear blue uniforms with a black stripe

down the side of the pants, and municipal traffic police wear beige uniforms (ibid.). Traffic

police in Aguascalientes, as in many other parts of Mexico, are known colloquially as

tamarindos (tamarinds), because of the colour of their uniforms.

4.27 Colima

(population: 515,313; capital: Colima)

The police force in Colima that is attached to the state attorney general’s office, and is

analogous to the judicial/ministerial police in other states, is called the attorney general’s police

(policía de procuración de justicia) (Procuraduría General de Justicia, Colima 18 Apr. 1999;

Estado de Colima 18 Apr. 1999a). Other state police forces are under the authority of the

Directorate of Public Security (Dirección de Seguridad Pública), subordinate to the General

Secretariat of Government (Secretaría General de Gobierno) (ibid. 18 Apr. 1999b). Under

Colima’s Law of the Preventive Police of 1996, the state has a preventive police force and

complementary police forces, which are called the commercial, industrial, bank and auxiliary

police forces (Art. 6) (ibid. 12 Sept. 1996).

The Colima Public Security Police force includes the following specialized groups: the

bank police (policía bancaria), who patrol areas where banks are located; the radio patrol

(radiopatrulleros); the rescue and civil protection squad (escuadrón de rescate y protección

civil); the riot squad (escuadrón de granaderos y antimotines); the rural community assistance

19

squad (escuadrón de auxilio a la comunidad rural), which conducts crime prevention in rural

areas; the youth unit (unidad juvenil), which has two parts, male and female, and implements

educational programs designed to reduce youth crime, drug use and truancy (ibid. 18 Apr.

1999d); the K-9 canine group; the motorized patrol group (grupo de motopatrullas); the reaction

force group (grupo fuerza de reacción); the special assault group (grupo especial de asalto); and

the tow-truck group (grupo de grúas) (ibid. 18 Apr. 1999c).

5. POLICE MILITARIZATION

In the mid- to late-1990s a substantial militarization of various police forces took place in

Mexico as an apparent response to the police forces’ unpopularity or inability to stem major

crime activity (Schulz 24 June 1997). This militarization took the form of the appointment of

military officers and regular soldiers, typically on leave from the armed forces, to positions in the

various police forces (Los Angeles Times 4 Jan. 1998).

On 11 December 1995, the General Law to Establish the Bases of Coordination of the

National System of Public Security (Ley General que Establece las Bases de Coordinación del

Sistema Nacional de Seguridad Pública) came into force, allowing the police and the military to

work together under the supervision of a “Special Executive” (PRODH n.d.). Subsequently

military officers took command of the majority of Mexico’s police forces, and the Supreme

Court of Justice of the Nation (Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación) ruled that the military

was permitted to participate in public security operations and arrest civilians, subject to the

approval of the president (ibid.). In March 1996 the Mexican Supreme Court ruled that the armed

forces could become involved in public security as long as it was at the request of the civilian

authorities (Turbiville Apr. 1997). By August 1998 over half of the police forces in Mexico were

headed by military officers (Los Angeles Times 9 Aug. 1998).

Beginning in 1995, military officers took over command of the Federal Judicial Police

(PJF) in Chihuahua (Schulz 24 June 1997; Crime and Justice International Feb. 1997, 5), all of

Nuevo León’s 50 PJF agents were replaced by 100 soldiers (Schulz 24 June 1997; Reforma

22 Apr. 1997), and generals were assigned to state police forces in 19 states (Schulz 24 June

1997) and DF (ibid.; Turbiville Apr. 1997). In DF, most of the high-level officials of the

Secretariat of Public Security (Secretaría de Seguridad Pública: SSP) were replaced by military

officers in the spring of 1996 (ibid.). Among the police organizations under the purview of SSP

20

that were put under command of military officers were: banking and industrial police; women’s

groups; mounted patrols; motorcycle patrol; special unit and auxiliary police (ibid.; see also

Toronto Star 21 Nov. 1997).

In December 1996 generals were placed in command of the PJF, the National Institute to

Combat Drugs (replaced in April 1997 by the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Crimes Against

Health) and the Center for Planning of Drug Control (CENDRO) (Schulz 24 June 1997).

Moreover, the retired Brigadier General who was put in charge of the DF police in mid-1996,

Enrique Salgado Cordero (Latin American Weekly Report 11 Mar. 1997; Schulz 24 June 1997),

brought almost 200 military officers to the force (ibid.) and almost 2,600 members of the police

force were replaced with soldiers (Excélsior 4 Mar. 1997; El Universal 2 Mar. 1997; Schulz

24 June 1997; Latin American Weekly Report 11 Mar. 1997). The soldiers participated in DF

street patrols to relieve regular police while they participated in “professionalization programs”

(Turbiville Apr. 1997; La Jornada 28 Feb. 1997; Latin American Weekly Report 11 Mar. 1997).

Soldiers began to patrol DF streets in March 1997 (Turbiville Apr. 1997). However, as of

December 1997, the military had withdrawn from police duties in DF (Country Reports 1998

1999; Ruiz Harrell 26 May 1999; Carmona 26 May 1999), although the Deputy Secretary-

General of Public Security (Subsecretario General de la Seguridad Pública) in DF is a retired

military officer (PRODH 2 June 1999).

In January 1997 the PJF in Baja California were placed under the command of an army

officer on leave (La Jornada 21 Feb. 1997). The next month, the PGR announced that about 95

agents of the PJF and the INCD in Baja California had been replaced by soldiers (La Jornada

21 Feb. 1997). The soldiers were classified as PJF agents, but they were housed in military

barracks and used military vehicles, and some continued to wear their army uniforms (ibid.). In

Chihuahua as well, it was announced in February 1997 that all members of the PJF in certain

parts of the state (Ciudad Juárez, Camargo, Hidalgo del Parral, Ojinaga and the state capital,

Chihuahua), would be replaced by soldiers (ibid.; see also Excélsior 25 Feb. 1997). The decision

to bring in soldiers was reportedly the result of citizens’ complaints of “indiscriminate searches”

by PJF agents (Excélsior 25 Feb. 1997). On 26 August 1997 the PGR announced that 40 soldiers

on leave from the military would join the PJF in Chihuahua to constrain the activity of the drug

cartels (La Jornada 27 Aug. 1997). It was reported n March 1997 that 31 soldiers on leave had

21

joined the PJF in Tamaulipas in order to combat the drug traffic in that state (Reforma 5 Mar.

1997).

Armed forces personnel continue to play important roles in several state police forces and

the PJF (REDTDT 23 July 1998; Ruiz Harrell 26 May 1999; Carmona 26 May 1999; PRODH

26 May 1999). As of June 1999 the majority of PJF state commanders were soldiers who

continue to have the legal status of members of the armed forces, not police (PRODH 2 June

1999).

6. INTER-AGENCY COORDINATION

Mexican police forces usually do not share information with each other, and there has

been a historical rivalry between state judicial police forces and other local police forces and the

Federal Judicial Police (Ruiz Harrell 30 Mar. 1999). Thus, according to the Mexican human

rights activist Rafael Ruiz Harrell, if a car is stolen in DF, for example, and sold the next day in

Veracruz, there is normally no way for the police in Veracruz to know that it was stolen, and if a

member of the state or federal police force is fired for corruption, as a rule they can simply go to

another state and get a police job (30 Mar. 1999). It should be noted, however, that in the case of

Coahuila, the state government has instituted a program to accumulate a database of information

on employees of the ministerial police, public ministry agencies and experts’ services (servicios

periciales) in order to prevent people who have been dismissed from one state agency for

misconduct from being hired by another state agency. This information is being shared with

attorneys general of the other states (Estado de Coahuila 26 Jan. 1996).

Usually files are kept on police force members, but personnel files are normally not

available to outsiders who want to investigate the conduct of a current or former member of a

police force (Ruiz Harrell 30 Mar. 1999). However, Ruiz Harrell observed that there is some

information sharing between federal and state police in states governed by the Institutional

Revolutionary Party (Partido Revolucionario Institucional: PRI), which is also the federal ruling

party (ibid.).

Ruiz Harrell stated that he does not know of any instance in which police have tracked

down wanted persons through voters’ lists, but he thinks it may be done (ibid.). He believes that

it is unlikely that the income tax system would be used to track down wanted persons, unless the

person in question pays very large amounts in income tax (ibid.). The Mexican income tax

22

system as not well organized, according to Ruiz Harrell, and most people pay income tax by

paycheque deduction; it is unlikely such a taxpayer would be tracked by police through the

system (ibid.).

As far as the legal section of the PRODH human rights centre is aware, the PJF do not

track people from state to state by means of voter's card (credencial de elector) or social

insurance number (número de seguro social) (Fernández Mendiburu 4 June 1999). Normally

when a person is being sought on a federal offence and has moved from one state to another, the

state section of the PJF in the state where the person is thought to be is notified, and they look for

the person within the state (ibid.).

7. REDRESS AND INTERNAL POLICE CONTROLS

Complaints about abuses by police in Mexico may be directed to the National Human

Rights Commission (Comisión Nacional de Derechos Humanos), if the complaint is against a

federal police force, or a state Human Rights Commission, if the complaint is against a state

police force (DECA Equipo Pueblo 27 Apr. 1999; PRODH 2 June 1999). Human Rights

Commissions may make recommendations, but such recommendations are not binding (DECA

Equipo Pueblo 27 Apr. 1999; PRODH 2 June 1999). The Mexican human rights organization

PRODH notes that the federal and state Human Rights Commissions are not independent, but are

directly linked to the executive sector of the federal and state governments, and that

recommendations made by the Human Rights Commissions are usually not carried out by

governments (ibid.).

According to the monthly publication of the DF Human Rights Commission (Comisión

de Derechos Humanos del Distrito Federal: CDHDF), Gaceta, the following is the procedure for

filing a complaint against DF public servants, including police: the complaint must be presented

in writing within one year of the alleged violation, and it must be signed by the complainant, or

fingerprinted if the complainant is illiterate. The complainant must provide their full name,

address, and a telephone number where they can be reached or where a message can be left. The

written statement must include a brief description of the facts. If possible, the name and position

of the public servant involved should be provided. Legible photocopies of all documents relevant

to the complaint should be attached. The CDHDF states that it cannot take into account acts or

decisions of electoral organizations and authorities, decisions relating to jurisdiction, labour

23

conflicts, conflicts between private individuals, or opinions formulated by authorities, private

individuals or other entities regarding the interpretation of constitutional provisions and other

juridical orders. It is not necessary to be represented by a lawyer to present a complaint. The

document provides the address and telephone number of the CDHDF, and states that the services

of the CDHDF are free (Gaceta July 1997, 120).

Persons are legally entitled under Mexican law to lodge criminal complaints against

police if they feel that the circumstances justify it, but public ministries are not always willing to

proceed to initiate preliminary investigations against members of police forces, and complainants

often reportedly receive threats after lodging such complaints (PRODH 2 June 1999). In

addition, victims of abuses may lodge complaints against government employees, including

police, with internal affairs sections of the applicable government, a course of action which,

according to PRODH, is inefficient and unlikely to produce results (ibid.).

The DF government Website provides the following information on available venues to

complain about employees of the DF government, including police:

• through one of the Central Modules of Citizen’s Concerns (Módulos Centrales de Atención Ciudadana);

• through the “Quejatel” telephone complaint line; • through the Office Against Police Abuses (la Oficina Contra Abusos de Policías)

(Ciudad de México n.d.).

Over the course of six months starting in September 1998, in DF, 11,565 members of the

SSP police were disciplined, in part due to citizen complaints (La Jornada 7 Mar. 1999).

Responding to a wave of alleged police violations, the new police chief, Alejandro Gertz

Manero, appointed in September 1998, established an emergency security program in February

1999 which required every uniformed member of the police force to be in possession of a work

order (orden de trabajo) every day, with the intent of reducing public complaints against police

for not carrying out their duties by at least 50 per cent in three months (ibid.).

There are three units within the DF SSP which are responsible for internal control of the

police. The first is the Security Supervision Force (Fuerza de Supervisión de Seguridad: FSS),

which is responsible for the auxiliary police. The second is the Traffic Supervision Group

(Grupo de Supervisión Vial), which is responsible for inspecting the work of traffic police on

major streets and at 16 public transportation police stations (delegaciones) and transit-stops (La

24

Jornada 7 Mar. 1999). The third is the Operations Inspection Group (Grupo de Inspección de

Operaciones), which conducts day-to-day supervision of the all branches of the SSP police,

supervises the FSS and attends to citizen complaints (ibid.). In 1997 video cameras were

installed in all DF PJ “installations” (Latin American Regional Reports: Mexico and NAFTA

Report 16 Sept. 1997).

Both the PGJE of Veracruz state and the Oaxaca state government provides electronic

complaint forms on their Internet Websites, through which complaints about public servants can

be lodged (Procuraduría General de Justicia del Estado de Veracruz 11 June 1999b; Estado de

Oaxaca 1998). The responsible department within the PGJE in Veracruz is the Deputy

Attorney’s Office of Supervision and Complaints (Subprocuraduría de Supervisión y Quejas)

(Procuraduría General de Justicia del Estado de Veracruz 11 June 1999b). Information about the

results of complaints made through these electronic forms could not be found among the sources

consulted by the Research Directorate; however, the Oaxaca state Human Rights Commission

made 20 recommendations from April 1997 to May 1998 following complaints against police in

the state, of which 17 were accepted and implemented by the state government and 3 were

pending implementation (Estado de Oaxaca 28 Apr. 1999).

The Puebla PGJE has a unit called the Regional Directorate of Preliminary Investigations

and Process Control (Dirección Regional de Averiguaciones Previas y Control de Procesos)

which processes complaints from the public about public ministry representatives and judicial

police agents. (Procuraduría General de Justicia del Estado de Puebla 12 Jan. 1999).

The Guanajuato state government Website reports that during 1998 the internal control

section of the PGJE disciplined 367 employees and dismissed 47, and that of 69 human rights

recommendations submitted to the PGJE, 45 were accepted. The source does not state, however,

whether the disciplinary actions and human rights recommendations are related to the Judicial

Police (Procuraduría de Justicia del Estado de Guanajuato n.d.b).

A report by the Nayarit PGJE for 1997 states that in 1997 the PJGE had received from the

state Human Rights Commission 43 requests for reports related to complaints about judicial

police agents, which resulted in five recommendations being made to the PGJE by the Human

Rights Commission, of which two had been implemented at the time of the report (Estado de

Nayarit n.d.).

25

NOTES ON SELECTED SOURCES

Alarcón Hernández, Juan President of the Guerrero state Commission for the Defence of Human Rights (Comisión de Defensa de los Derechos Humanos del Estado de Guerrero).

Alcantar, Gabriel Head of the Orientation, Information and Complaints department of the DF Secretariat of Public Security (SSP).

Becerril, Carlos Press officer at the public relations department of the federal attorney general (Procuraduría General de Justicia).

Camarena Flores, Daniel Deputy Director of Public Security of the state of Oaxaca.

Carmona, Adriana A lawyer by profession and the head of the judicial section (area jurídica) of the Fray Francisco de Vitoria O.P. Human Rights Centre (Centro de Derechos Humanos ‘Fray Francisco de Vitoria O.P.) in Mexico City.

Chávez Cleofas, Manuel Director of Corporate Development, Secretariat of Public Security (SSP), Tabasco.

DECA Equipo Pueblo A non-governmental organization in DF that publishes The Other Side of Mexico, a newsletter with a focus on politics and human rights, six times a year in English and Spanish.

Díaz García, Arturo A lawyer responsible for human rights training at the San Luis Potosí Human Rights Commission.

Fernández Mendiburu, Jorge A lawyer and a member of the judicial section of the human rights centre “Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez” (PRODH) in Mexico City.

26

Gamero Meza, Eduardo Coordinator of the State Security Program, General Secretariat of Government (Secretaría General de Gobierno), Durango.

Gómez Barrera, Hector A. General Director of Public Security and Traffic of the state of Aguascalientes.

Inojos Robles, Francisco Javier Director of the municipal police academy of Mexicali, Baja California.

Lirach Gómez, Miguel Director General of Public Security of the state of Tamaulipas.

López González, Francisco Javier General Coordinator of the Guanajuato Judicial Police.

Miranda San Román, Catarino Administrative deputy director (sub director administrativo) of the Puebla State Police Academy.

Reyes Luviano, Rafael A lawyer by profession, Mr. Reyes Luviano is the general inspector (visitador general) of the office of the Baja California Attorney General for Human Rights (equivalent to the Human Rights Commissions in other states).

Rojano Esquivel, José Carlos. Executive Secretary of the Querétaro State Human Rights Commission

Ruiz Harrell, Rafael A criminologist and vice-president and co-founder of the NGO the Mexican Commission for the Defence and Promotion of Human Rights (CMDPDH: Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos) in Mexico City. Founded in 1990, the Commission receives complaints and provides legal aid to victims of human rights violations. He is a member of Mexico’s Sociedad de Criminología and teaches graduate seminars in modern trends in the philosophy of law, and theoretical problems in criminology at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

27

Saucedo López, María-Luisa Juridical advisor of the Tabasco Human Rights Commission.

Vega Cota, Carlos Ramón Director General of Public Security and Traffic of the state of Sonora.

Villalobos Romero, Pablo Deputy Director of the Subdirectorate of Coordination and Control, General Directorate of Public Security police, Coahuila.

28

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31

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32

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Inojos Robles, Javier Francisco. 18 June 1999. Telephone interview.

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33

< http://www.cidh.org/countryrep/Mexico98en/Chapter-4b.htm > [Accessed 29 Apr. 1999]

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_____. 5 April 1999. Alonso Urrutia. “Villanueva, sin orden de arresto; tiene otra cita con la PGR: Murillo.” < http://serpiente.dgsca.unam.mx/jornada/1999/abr99/990405/murillo.html > [Accessed 5 May 1999]

_____. 1 April 1999. Alonso Urrutia. “Agentes del Cisen se integrarán a la Policía Federal Preventiva.” < http://serpiente.dgsca.unam.mx/jornada/1999/abr99/990401/integran.html > [Accessed 8 Apr. 1999]

_____. [Mexico City, in Spanish] 28 March 1999. Roberto Garduno. “Topics of Week’s Antidrug Meetings Cited.” (FBIS-LAT-1999-0329 28 Mar. 1999/WNC)

_____. 7 March 1999. José Galán. “Sancionados, 11 mil 565 policías en 7 meses.” < http://serpiente.dgsca.unam.mx/jornada/1999/mar99/990307/siete.html > [Accessed 25 Mar. 19991]

_____. 3 March 1999. Ricardo Olayo. “Acusan de tortura a judiciales del DF.” < http://serpiente.dgsca.unam.mx/jornada/1999/mar99/990303/primer.html > [Accessed 25 Mar. 1999]

_____. 2 March 1999. José Galán. “Aplica la SSP plan de emergencia para el control de 37 mil policías.” < http://serpiente.dgsca.unam.mx/jornada/1999/mar99/990302/someten.html > [Accessed 5 May 1999]

_____. 20 February 1999. Roberto Garduño, Jesús Aranda, Rosa Elvira Vargas. “La PGR sancionó a mil 630 funcionarios en 26 meses.” < http://serpiente.dgsca.unam.mx/jornada/1999/feb99/990220/rindio.html > [Accessed 25 Feb. 1999]

_____. 18 February 1999. David Aponte. "Plena intervención en México del aparato antinarcóticos de EU." < http://serpiente.dgsca.unam.mx/jornada/1999/feb99/990218/estacion.html > [Accessed 2 Sept. 1999]

_____. 15 February 1999. Maribel Gutiérrez. “Patrullan soldados y policías la zona donde incursionó un grupo del ERPI.” < http://serpiente.dgsca.unam.mx/jornada/1999/feb99/990215/vigilancia.html > [Accessed 14 May 1999]

_____. 15 January 1999. José Gil Olmos, David Aponte. “Adiestrará el FBI a grupo especial de la policía federal.”

34

< http://serpiente.dgsca.unam.mx/jornada/1999/ene99/990115/adiestrara.html > [Accessed 26 Mar. 1999]

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_____. 1 September 1998. José Gil Olmos. “Oficializa la SG cargos de Gamboa Patrón, Jiménez Morales y Rabasa.” < http://serpiente.dgsca.unam.mx/jornada/1998/sep98/980901/sg.html > [Accessed 4 May 1999]

_____. 20 August 1998. José Gil Olmos, Rosa Elvira Vargas. “El 27 será presentado el programa de seguridad pública.” < http://serpiente.dgsca.unam.mx/jornada/1998/ago98/980820/el.html >

_____. [Mexico City, in Spanish] 27 July 1998. Maribel Gutierrez. “Guerrero Community Activists Kidnapped.” (FBIS-LAT-98-209 28 July 1998/WNC)

_____. 25 July 1998. Rubén Villalpando. “Presuntos judiciales federales mataron a un joven durante un cateo en Juárez.” < http://serpiente.dgsca.unam.mx/jornada/1998/jul98/980725/joven.html > [Accessed 14 May 1999]

_____. [Mexico City, in Spanish] 12 July 1998. Maribel Gutierrez. “Guerrero Paramilitaries.” (FBIS-LAT-98-197 16 July 1998/WNC)

_____. [Mexico City, in Spanish] 11 June 1998. Hermann Bellinghausen. “Chiapas El Bosque Operation Described.” (FBIS-LAT-98-167 16 June 1998/WNC)

_____. 25 May 1998. Francisco Guerrero Garro, Juan Manuel Venegas. “Continúa en varios estados la cacería de Arizmendi.” < http://serpiente.dgsca.unam.mx/jornada/1998/may988/980525/arizmendi.html > [Accessed 18 June 1999]

_____. 13 May 1998. Gustavo Castillo García. “Financiá el cártel de Juárez a Los arbolitos, rupo integrado por militares y judiciales.” < http://serpiente.dgsca.unam.mx/jornada/1998/may98/980513/carte.html > [Accessed 14 May 1999]

_____. 16 April 1998. Jorge Alberto Cornejo. “Rechaza un juez extraditar a Estados Unidos al presunto administrador del cártel de los Arellano.” < http://serpiente.dgsca.unam.mx/jornada/1998/abr98/980416/rechaza.html > [Accessed 14 May 1999]

_____. 31 March 1998. Gustavo Castillo. “Presos, director de la PGR y tres funcionarios más por plagio y robo.” < http://serpiente.dgsca.unam.mx/jornada/1998/mar98/980331/funcionarios.html > [Accessed 14 May 1999]

_____. 14 March 1998. Rubén Villalpando. “En Juárez, dos ejecutados y un ebrio asesinado por policías.”

35

< http://sepriente.dgsca.unam.mx/jornada/1998/mar98/980314/ejecutados.html > [Accessed 14 May 1999]

_____. [Mexico City, in Spanish] 27 August 1997. Ruben Villalpando. “Military Reinforcements to Chihuahua PJF.” (FBIS-LAT-97-245 2 Sept. 1997/WNC)

_____. 28 February 1997. Miriam Posada García. “2,598 soldados vigilarán las calles del DF.” < http://serpiente.dgsca.unam.mx/jornada/1997/feb97/970228/soldados.html > [Accessed 13 Apr. 1999]

_____. [Mexico City, in Spanish] 21 February 1997. Jorge Alberto Cornejo, Alejandro Romero, Martin Sanchez. “Military Replacing Agents in 2 States.” (FBIS-LAT-97-036 21 Feb. 1997/WNC)

_____. 11 February 1996. Ricardo Olayo. “Garay, contra la ley que autoriza portar y usar armas a particulares.” < http://serpiente.dgsca.unam.mx/jornada/1996/feb96/960211/garay.html > [Accessed 18 May 1999]

Latin American Regional Reports: Mexico and NAFTA Report [London, U.K.]. 22 September 1998. “The Police: Restructuring and Improving.”

_____. 16 September 1997. “The UN’s Investigation of Torture Complaints; Justified, According to Investigator.” (Latin American Newsletters/NEXIS)

Latin American Weekly Report. 11 March 1997. “Soldiers Replace Police in Capital; Policemen who Survive Purge will be Re-trained by Army.” (Latin American Newsletters/NEXIS)

Liga Mexicana por la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos (LMDDH). 18 March 1997. Observatorio Internacional de Prisiones: Informe 1997: Las Condiciones de Detención y las Personas Encarceladas. < http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/mexico/limeddh/prisiones.html > [Accessed 12 Apr. 1999]

Lirach Gómez, Miguel. 15 July 1999. Telephone interview.

López González, Javier. 20 May 1999. Telephone interview.

The Los Angeles Times. 9 August 1998. Andrew Reding. “The Risk of Using the Army for Too Much.” < http://www.worldpolicy.org/americas/mexico/latimes-9808.html > [Accessed 19 Mar. 1999]

_____. 4 January 1998. Andrew Reding. “By Militarizing, Zedillo Only Increases Instability.” < http://www.worldpolicy.org/americas/mexico/latimes-9801.html > [Accessed 19 Mar. 1999]

México. Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos. 31 January 1917. < http://www.camaradediputados.gob.mx/marco/constitucion/index.html > [Accessed 25 June 1999]

Mexico: A Country Guide. 1992. Edited by Tom Barry. Albuquerque, New Mexico: The Inter-Hemispheric Education Resource Center.

36

Miami Herald. 12 December 1997. “Mexico City Police Chief out after 4 Days on Job.” (HeraldLink) < http://www.herald.com/americas/mexico/digdocs/040135.htm > [Accessed 23 Feb. 1999]

Miranda San Román, Catarino. 18 June 1999. Telephone interview.

Nayarit Judicial Police. 30 June 1999. Telephone interview with a representative.

_____. 22 June 1999. Telephone interview with a representative.

New York Times News Service. 24 November 1998. Sam Dillon. “44 Police Officers Accused of Corruption Arrested in Mexico City.” < http://www.latinolink.com/news/news98/1123nmex.HTM > [Accessed 23 Feb. 1999]

The New York Times. 15 December 1998. “World Briefing: The Americas: Mexico: Police Forces Merge.” (NEXIS)

El Norte [Monterrey, Nuevo León, in Spanish]. 26 April 1999. Luis Antonio Rivera. “La racha de Octubre.” < http://elnorte.infosel.com/local/CONT_seg.asp?nota-0002 > [Accessed 26 Apr. 1999]

_____ 23 February 1999. “Da archivo cibernético pista clave.” (InfoselenLínea) < http://www.infosel.com/canales/noticias_y_medios/articulo/016068/pagina2.htm > [Accessed 20 Apr. 1999]

Notimex. 30 March 1999. “Detienen a presuntos miembros de banda de ladrones.” (InfoselenLínea) < http://www.infosel.com/canales/noticias_y_medios/flash/19990330/056897.htm > [Accessed 20 Apr. 1999]

_____. 19 March 1999. “Frustan amotinamiento de reos en Cereso de Fresnillo.” (InfoselenLínea) < http://www.infosel.com/canales/noticias_y_medios/flash/19990319/055546.htm > [Accessed 20 Apr. 1999]

Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD). January-June 1997. Informe semestral sobre la violación de los derechos humanos. < http://www.cen-prd.org.mx/ > [Accessed 12 Apr. 1999]

Periódico Público [Guadalajara, Guanajuato]. 30 October 1998. Missael Habbana. “Quince personas armadas acribillaron a otras cinco.” < http://www.publi.com/news/1998/1030/c28.htm > [Accessed 20 Apr. 1999]

Procuraduría de Justicia del Estado de Guanajuato, Guanajuato. n.d.a < http://www.guanajuato.gob.mx/PGJEG/estamos.htm > [Accessed 21 Apr. 1999]

_____. n.d.b < http://www.guanajuato.gob.mx/PGFEG/comova.htm > [Accessed 21 Apr. 1999]

Procuraduría General de Justicia, Aguascalientes. 10 March 1997. < http://ags.acnet.net/pgjeags > [Accessed 21 Apr. 1999]

Procuraduría General de Justicia, Coahuila. n.d. “Logros.” < http://www.coahuila.gob.mx/ > [Accessed 14 April, 1999]

Procuraduría General de Justicia, Colima. 18 April 1999 [last modified]. < http://www.colima-estado.gob.mx/areas/DSPyJusticia/procu/index.html > [Accessed 27 Apr. 1999]

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Procuraduría General de Justicia, Durango. 1999. < http://www.durango.gob.mx/ > [Accessed 15 Apr. 1999]

Procuraduría General de la Republica, Fiscalía Especializada para la Atención de Delitos Contra la Salud. 22 September 1997. < http://www.pgr.gob.mx/fepades/feads.htm > [Accessed 2 Sept. 1999]

Procuraduría General de la República, Formación Académica y Profesional. May 1999. “Convocatoria.” < http://www.pgr.gob.mx/frames/frameg.htm >

Procuraduría General de Justicia del Estado de Chihuahua, Chihuahua. February 1998. < http://www.chihuahua.gob.mx/procuraduria/pgje.htm > [Accessed 15 Apr. 1999]

Procuraduría General de Justicia del Estado de Puebla, Puebla. 12 January 1999 [last modified]. < http://www.pue.gob.mx/pgj/nuestraOrganizacion/frame.htm > [Accessed 16 Apr. 1999]

Procuraduría General de Justicia del Estado de Sonora, Sonora. 23 February 1999. < http://www.pgjeson.gob.mx/ > [Accessed 22 Apr. 1999]

Procuraduría General de Justicia del Estado de Veracruz, Veracruz. 11 June 1999a [last modified]. “La Procuraduría en cifras.” < http://www.pgjver.gob.mx/cifras.htm > [Accessed 5 July 1999]

_____. 11 June 1999b [last modified]. “Forma de quejas.” < http://www.pgjver.gob.mx/quejas.htm > [Accessed 13 Apr. 1999]

Procuraduría General de Justicia, Dirección de la Policía Ministerial, Tamaulipas. 1999. < http://www.procutamps.gob.mx/ > [Accessed 19 Apr. 1999]

Puebla Judicial Police. 2 June 1999. Telephone interview with a representative.

Red Nacional de Organismos Civiles de Derechos Humanos, “Todos los Derechos para Todos” (REDTDT). 23 July 1998. "Carta a Kofi Annan sobre la Situación de los derechos humanos en México." < http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/mexico/doc/annan.html > [Accessed 25 May 1999]

Reding, Andrew. May 1995. “Democracy and Human Rights in Mexico.” < http://www.worldpolicy.org/americas/mexindex.html > [Accessed 30 Apr. 1999]

Reforma [Mexico City, in Spanish]. 5 March 1999. “Mexico Press Highlights.” (FBIS-LAT-1999-0308 5 Mar. 1999/WNC)

_____. 22 April 1997. Ruben Martinez. “Army Officer to Head Nuevo Leon PJF.” (FBIS-LAT-97-080 22 Apr. 1997/WNC)

_____. 5 March 1997. Meliton Garcia, Miguel Dominguez. “Soldiers Replace Police in Tamaulipas.” (FBIS-LAT-97-048 5 Mar. 1997/WNC)

Reyes Luviano, Rafael. 18 June 1999. Telephone interview.

Rojano Esquivel, José Carlos. 22 June 1999. Telephone interview.

Rotella, Sebastian. 1998. Twilight on the Line: Underworlds and Politics at the U.S.-Mexico Border. New York: W.W. Norton.

Ruiz Harrell, Rafael. 26 May 1999. Telephone interview.

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_____. 19 May 1999. Telephone interview.

_____. 30 March 1999. Telephone interview.

San Diego Union-Tribune. 31 October 1998. Gregory Gross. “Mexican Military Men Cleared in Slayings: 2 Men Shot to Death near Rosarito Beach.” < http://www.uniontrib.com/ > [Accessed 14 Apr. 1999]

Saucedo López, Maria-Luisa. 21 June 1999. Telephone interview.

Schulz, Donald E. 24 June 1997. “Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The United States, Mexico, and the Agony of National Security.” Strategic Studies Institute, United States Army War College, Carlyle PA < http://carlisle-www.army.mi/usassi/ > [Accessed 8 Apr. 1999]

Seattle Times. 24 November 1998. Laurence Iliff. “Police Arrested in Mexico City Sweep – Crackdown Part of Mayor’s Attempt to Clean Up Corrupt Force.” (NEXIS)

Secretaría de Gobernación. n.d. “Funciones de la Dirección General de Normatividad y Supervisión en Seguridad.” < http://www.gobernacion.gob.mx/props_def/docs/organi/fun_dnorsu.html > [Accessed 4 May 1999]

El Sol de Durango [Durango, Durango]. 16 January 1999. “Un Ladrón Tamaulipeco Robó una Casa Mientras la Dueña Visitaba a su Mamá.”

_____. 13 January 1999a. “Detenida por Vender Pollos en mal Estado.”

_____. 13 January 1999b. “Robaron en el San Marcos Carrito de Hamburguesas.”

_____. 13 January 1999c. “Acusado de golpear a su esposa…” (photo caption)

_____. 21 September 1998. “Por escandalizar ebrio …” (photo caption)

The Toronto Star. 21 November 1997. “Mexican ‘Zorros’ End Mutiny Elite SWAT Team to be Quizzed on Torture-murders.” (NEXIS)

Turbiville, Jr., Graham H. April 1997. “Law Enforcement and the Mexican Armed Forces: The Military Undertakes New Internal Security Missions” United States Army Foreign Military Studies Office (FMSO), Fort Leavenworth, KS. < http://members.aol.com/surferslim/fmso.html > [Accessed 12 Apr. 1999]

El Universal. [Mexico City]. 20 October 1998. Sorel Domínguez. “Sigue en aumento el índice de asesinatos, dice Velasco Arzac.” < http://www.el-universal.com.mx/net1/1998/oct98/20oct98/ciudad/01-ci-d.html > [Accessed 4 May 1999]

_____. 3 February 1998. Justino Miranda, Idalia Gomez, Joaquin Roman. “Dan de baja los tres judiciales de Morelos acusados de plagio.” < http://aguila.el-universal.com.mx/net1/1998/feb98/03feb98/nacional/02-na-d.html > [Accessed 18 June 1999]

_____. 2 March 1997. Juan Antonio López. "Inició la vigilancia de soldados, ayer." < http://www.el-universal.com.mx/net1/1997/mar1997/02mar97ciudad/01-ci-a.html > [Accessed 2 Sept. 1999]

Vega Cota, Carlos Ramón. 30 June 1999. Telephone interview.

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Villalobos Romero, Pablo. 30 June 1999. Telephone interview.

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