Growing Incompetency of the Police

Beautiful picture!

I am curious to know from your perspective what role the local government is supposed to play in local security. I have heard conflicting stories about which agencies are responsible for law enforcement. In one version I have heard that the local "police" force's only role since approximately 2018 has been for traffic enforcement and beach rule enforcement via "la policía turística". This happened as a result of the federal government removing a large majority of the local police who were not properly certified which resulted in the federal government taking over local law enforcement and has not been stopped. However, I also recently read that the marines took control of local enforcement. Additionally I have heard that local government has paid for barracks and vehicles for the national guard and military so that they could assist with security. I can find no documents that officially clarify this topic.

It is frustrating and unsettling that so many different businesses and services appear to have to shut down to avoid extorsion or bodily harm when we have countless people riding around in vehicles with guns. Where is the initiative to improve the justice system and investigative policing that will help catch and detain these criminals who are terrorizing our community? We are paying lots of taxes and it seems that no level of government is taking responsibility for a situation that seems to be only getting worse. It breaks my heart.

Art. 21 of the Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos establishes the following:
La seguridad pública es una función del Estado a cargo de la Federación, las entidades federativas y los Municipios, cuyos fines son salvaguardar la vida, las libertades, la integridad y el patrimonio de las personas, así como contribuir a la generación y preservación del orden público y la paz social, de conformidad con lo previsto en esta Constitución y las leyes en la materia. La seguridad pública comprende la prevención, investigación y persecución de los delitos, así como la sanción de las infracciones administrativas, en los términos de la ley, en las respectivas competencias que esta Constitución señala.

Art. 115 establishes that:
La policía preventiva estará al mando del presidente municipal en los términos de la Ley de Seguridad Pública del Estado. Aquélla acatará las órdenes que el Gobernador del Estado le transmita

Art. 171 of the Constitución Política del Estado Libre y Soberano de Guerrero establishes:
La seguridad pública estará a cargo de una policía preventiva bajo el mando del Presidente Municipal en los términos de la ley estatal correspondiente, con excepción de los convenios celebrados en la materia con los gobiernos Federal y Estatal. La policía acatará las órdenes que el Gobernador del Estado le transmita en los casos que juzgue como de fuerza mayor o alteración grave del orden público.

The Bando de Policía y Buen Gobierno spells out the role of local law enforcement, but as we all know, due to the intentional lack of professionalizing the municipal police forces, their main role has been mostly as a criminal element with badges over the years. Exactly as they are still perceived by a majority of the public.

So even getting down to what laws they are supposed to enforce, everything deteriorates into massive confusion, and the most common excuse used by local authorities is that it's not their job to deal with criminal gangs that operate across municipal or state lines, which is obviously simply a cop out. This is why the rate of any type of punishment for any criminal in the state of Guerrero is less than one percent. Over 99% of all crimes simply go unpunished. Forget solving crimes.

Unfortunately, the local government has washed their hands of using the police for their intended purpose. For too many decades they haven't required the police to be professional, which is why we have many of the problems we do locally and nationwide, and if it weren't for the requirements necessary to possess a firearm for public security local police would have almost no requirements for their job.

The federal government has had to step in due to the gross negligence of municipal governments. The original Policía Federal were a failure. The Guardia Nacional are not local police, and by the time they familiarize themselves with a locality and gather enough intelligence to have a simple idea of what's going on, they're already behind the curve and at a huge disadvantage. The reality has been that they're mostly for show. And of course they get called away frequently to deal with problems elsewhere, so we can't even count on their continued presence or full attention.

A city like Zihuatanejo MUST be able to rely on a LOCAL police force, but mayor after mayor has simply proven themselves incapable of taking public security as seriously as it needs to be taken. Thus public insecurity remains a principal and growing complaint among the citizenry here and across the nation year after year decade after decade. While our so-called elected representatives in our Congreso de la Unión debate who should be in charge of the Guardia Nacional, SEDENA or a civilian institution, many locals in this part of the state want the military to remain in our streets. We know we can't count on our local police. The problem of organized crime funded by the ever-growing demand for stupidly banned substances continues spiraling out of control and the criminals only become wealthier, better organized, better supplied with arms and technology, and more entrenched. And apparently the government at every level only becomes more inept and incapable of dealing with them. #PobrePueblo #MerecemosMejor