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| Elite Mexican Police Corps Targets Persistent Violence, but Many Are Skeptical | |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| MEXICO CITY — More than two years after first floating it during his presidential campaign as a signature effort to control rampant violence, President Enrique Peña Nieto on Friday swore in a new gendarmerie for Mexico, an offshoot of the federal police aimed at quelling outbreaks of violent crime. | MEXICO CITY — More than two years after first floating it during his presidential campaign as a signature effort to control rampant violence, President Enrique Peña Nieto on Friday swore in a new gendarmerie for Mexico, an offshoot of the federal police aimed at quelling outbreaks of violent crime. |
| But even before the new division hits the streets, criminologists have panned the idea as akin to prescribing “aspirin for a cancer,” in the words of one, and as continuing a tradition of reinventing forces without attacking the fundamental, chronic problem of weak local and state police institutions. | But even before the new division hits the streets, criminologists have panned the idea as akin to prescribing “aspirin for a cancer,” in the words of one, and as continuing a tradition of reinventing forces without attacking the fundamental, chronic problem of weak local and state police institutions. |
| Mexican officials, outlining the force this week before its inauguration Friday, said it would comprise about 5,000 new recruits and function as a division of the 36,000-officer federal police. It will be an elite civil force, not a military one, drawn from well-educated young recruits with no prior police experience as well as veteran police commanders. | Mexican officials, outlining the force this week before its inauguration Friday, said it would comprise about 5,000 new recruits and function as a division of the 36,000-officer federal police. It will be an elite civil force, not a military one, drawn from well-educated young recruits with no prior police experience as well as veteran police commanders. |
| Officials said the force had been intensely screened and was expected to be a “new model” of corruption-free policing. | Officials said the force had been intensely screened and was expected to be a “new model” of corruption-free policing. |
| Although it carries the name gendarmerie, to distinguish it from the normal police, the force has characteristics similar to a SWAT team, with specially trained officers reacting quickly to hot spots. | Although it carries the name gendarmerie, to distinguish it from the normal police, the force has characteristics similar to a SWAT team, with specially trained officers reacting quickly to hot spots. |
| Monte Alejandro Rubido García, the national security commissioner, said the force would be deployed particularly to areas where criminals have caused economic distress or threatened commerce or tourism, which some analysts outside the government took as a nod to Mr. Peña Nieto’s effort to promote business and investment. | Monte Alejandro Rubido García, the national security commissioner, said the force would be deployed particularly to areas where criminals have caused economic distress or threatened commerce or tourism, which some analysts outside the government took as a nod to Mr. Peña Nieto’s effort to promote business and investment. |
| The Gendarmerie Division aims “to provide an increased capability, quantitatively and qualitatively, to federal police response,” Mr. Rubido told a meeting of international journalists. “Today, with the 5,000 gendarmes joining, we are making an important quantum leap.” | The Gendarmerie Division aims “to provide an increased capability, quantitatively and qualitatively, to federal police response,” Mr. Rubido told a meeting of international journalists. “Today, with the 5,000 gendarmes joining, we are making an important quantum leap.” |
| Mr. Peña Nieto campaigned, in part, on a pledge to reduce violence, but the rollout of the new force comes at a time when views of how successful his efforts have been are increasingly mixed. | Mr. Peña Nieto campaigned, in part, on a pledge to reduce violence, but the rollout of the new force comes at a time when views of how successful his efforts have been are increasingly mixed. |
| Homicides have been declining in Mexico since a peak in 2011, though the vast majority remain unsolved. Last year, homicides dropped 13 percent, with 22,732 killings compared with 26,037 the year before, according to the Mexican census agency. | Homicides have been declining in Mexico since a peak in 2011, though the vast majority remain unsolved. Last year, homicides dropped 13 percent, with 22,732 killings compared with 26,037 the year before, according to the Mexican census agency. |
| But that is only the recorded killings and does not take into account the thousands of people who have gone missing in recent years; gangs often take pains to hide their victims in clandestine graves discovered months if not years later. This week the government said that 22,322 people remained missing, including 9,790 who have disappeared since Mr. Peña Nieto took office. And extortion, kidnappings and other quality-of-life crimes have soared as traditional drug-trafficking groups splinter into smaller, more regional gangs and diversify their rackets. | But that is only the recorded killings and does not take into account the thousands of people who have gone missing in recent years; gangs often take pains to hide their victims in clandestine graves discovered months if not years later. This week the government said that 22,322 people remained missing, including 9,790 who have disappeared since Mr. Peña Nieto took office. And extortion, kidnappings and other quality-of-life crimes have soared as traditional drug-trafficking groups splinter into smaller, more regional gangs and diversify their rackets. |
| Mr. Peña Nieto, who has spoken openly of trying to play up the country’s economic virtues over its security problems, has found himself confronting one crime crisis after another, and relying on the military and federal police to take action just as his predecessor did, to much criticism. | Mr. Peña Nieto, who has spoken openly of trying to play up the country’s economic virtues over its security problems, has found himself confronting one crime crisis after another, and relying on the military and federal police to take action just as his predecessor did, to much criticism. |
| The president was forced to do so in some of the country’s most chronically violent states, including Michoacán, where lime and avocado farmers in the past year took up arms to chase out a violent gang; and Tamaulipas, along the Texas border, where criminal groups have had running gun battles and have blockaded roads just as Mr. Peña Nieto had been hoping to lure investors to natural gas fields there. | The president was forced to do so in some of the country’s most chronically violent states, including Michoacán, where lime and avocado farmers in the past year took up arms to chase out a violent gang; and Tamaulipas, along the Texas border, where criminal groups have had running gun battles and have blockaded roads just as Mr. Peña Nieto had been hoping to lure investors to natural gas fields there. |
| Recently, he appointed a czar to fight kidnapping, which Mr. Rubido acknowledged had become a serious problem in Valle de Bravo, a weekend retreat near Mexico City popular with foreign and domestic tourists. He said the gendarmerie could be deployed to such a place. | Recently, he appointed a czar to fight kidnapping, which Mr. Rubido acknowledged had become a serious problem in Valle de Bravo, a weekend retreat near Mexico City popular with foreign and domestic tourists. He said the gendarmerie could be deployed to such a place. |
| Still, analysts said the administration was hewing to a longstanding tradition among Mexican presidents of reconstituting or reorganizing the federal police, only for successors to then dismantle and make up their own forces. | Still, analysts said the administration was hewing to a longstanding tradition among Mexican presidents of reconstituting or reorganizing the federal police, only for successors to then dismantle and make up their own forces. |
| “We don’t need more police, we need better police,” said Ernesto López Portillo, director of Insyde, a security think tank in Mexico City. “The Gendarmerie is new aspirin for a cancer. It could temporarily lower some kinds of crime, but it is not going to resolve the problem at the national level as long as there is no focus on reconstructing local and state institutions.” | “We don’t need more police, we need better police,” said Ernesto López Portillo, director of Insyde, a security think tank in Mexico City. “The Gendarmerie is new aspirin for a cancer. It could temporarily lower some kinds of crime, but it is not going to resolve the problem at the national level as long as there is no focus on reconstructing local and state institutions.” |
| David A. Shirk, a professor at the University of San Diego who studies crime and policing in Mexico, said he suspected that the new force, with its tilt toward areas in economic straits, had much to do with reassuring the private sector’s safety concerns about Mexico. | David A. Shirk, a professor at the University of San Diego who studies crime and policing in Mexico, said he suspected that the new force, with its tilt toward areas in economic straits, had much to do with reassuring the private sector’s safety concerns about Mexico. |
| He said Mexico lacked standards in its police forces, making advancement largely up to officers’ relations with often corrupt superiors, and political leaders have had few incentives to make long-term efforts to clean up and professionalize local forces. That may change in the coming years under a new election law that will allow mayors and members of Congress to run for re-election, giving voters a chance to reject them if they feel their communities are not safe. | He said Mexico lacked standards in its police forces, making advancement largely up to officers’ relations with often corrupt superiors, and political leaders have had few incentives to make long-term efforts to clean up and professionalize local forces. That may change in the coming years under a new election law that will allow mayors and members of Congress to run for re-election, giving voters a chance to reject them if they feel their communities are not safe. |
| But the president will still be limited to one six-year term. | But the president will still be limited to one six-year term. |
| “I would be surprised if the gendarmerie existed 10 years from now,” Professor Shirk said. “Every new government tries to reinvent the wheel. No one is interested in long-term incentives to develop forces across administrations.” | “I would be surprised if the gendarmerie existed 10 years from now,” Professor Shirk said. “Every new government tries to reinvent the wheel. No one is interested in long-term incentives to develop forces across administrations.” |