Blog dedicated to reporting on Mexican drug cartels
on the border line between the US and Mexico
.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

End police abuse in Juarez

El Diario de Juarez November 11, 2012

Husband and Wife speaking of their kidnap and torture in Juarez at the hands of Police

Editorial translated by un vato for Borderland Beat

[Translator's note: There have been numerous news reports of police abuse in Juarez this past year, to the point that Police Chief Leyzaola recently pulled some surprise inspections in several police districts and ordered the release of dozens of detainees who had been arrested because of their physical appearance or because they did not have official identification on them when stopped by a cop.  Although the number of homicides has declined measurably in Juarez, extortion, robbery and kidnapping appear to have increased. A big problem is that the police agencies have not earned the public's trust. --un vato] . 

Trust in police agencies, an essential element if one wants to talk about consolidating advances in the area of public safety, will never be possible so long as its agents -- especially municipal police in their current phase-- abuse the citizen they were supposed to protect and become the criminals they are supposed to fight.

Any statistical gain from a decrease in criminal matters will be of little use if in the collective imagination an intervention by police generates fear instead of security.

It's no longer a matter of isolated cases. The complaints, the stories that have developed with police officers as antagonists of law-abiding citizens are a constant that does not allow any minimizing or dissimulation.

The general outcry to end abuses-- to adjust strategies, to purge the police of bad elements, to improve methods for internal control and to prosecute criminally those that have gone over to the side of the criminals-- has to be dealt with at the highest level of authority.

The accumulation of cases is alarming. The people of Juarez began this week by learning about the dramatic case of a man who was left for dead by police and, severely beaten and with a plastic bag placed on his head, was dumped in an isolated place in the city's southwest.

Daniel Hernandez Favela, 50 years old, was taken from his home in the La Cuesta housing subdivision by a group of 14 municipal police agents wearing hoods -- according to the complaint filed with the State Attorney General-- who were looking for drugs in the house. They "drove him" around for more than two hours, beat him while they were interrogating him about his activities and threatened to kill him.

Because he denied he was involved in selling drugs, the agents kicked him until he lost consciousness. He later woke up, abandoned in an area outside the city. He had to use a wheelchair to appear in person to denounce the incident and had to be helped by his relatives because it was difficult for him to stand up and walk.

At the Attorney General's Office, it transpired that the police involved in the incident belong to the Special Operations Group (GEO; Grupo de Operaciones Especiales) which has been singled out in other complaints for illegal searches, injuries and even theft of property from the  homes they go into.
9 Year old American boy shot by police as they arrested his mother for murder, she was innocent and set free
Recently, another man was unable to save his life after a confrontation with a municipal police officer. After a month-long agony, David Martinez Valenzuela, 31 years old, died at the General Hospital on Wednesday. The victim was shot several times when he intervened to stop a man from beating up a woman. The aggressor turned out to be a member of the Municipal Police and he is now at large.

Also during this week, three preventive police officers, among them a woman, were arraigned before a  magistrate (juez de garantia), accused of abuse of authority, unlawful use of public force and injuries against three young people who last August were taken from their home in the Portal del Roble subdivision to be tortured and dumped in a vacant lot.

Maria Victoria and Jose Refugio Sifuentes Gamboa and Erick Villa Sifuentes accused the police of detaining them and beating them with no apparent motive after they entered the home without a search warrant.

After they searched the home, the police officers took the three young people away and drove around with them for three hours through several parts of the city. During that time, they covered their faces with plastic bags and continued to beat them.

According to the charges presented by the prosecutors, one of the agents kept pressing Erick Villa's eye until it bled. Finally, they dropped them off and left them with their hands tied on a property close to Independencia Blvd.

The three police agents are facing charges of abuse of authority and excessive use of force, with one of them specifically charged with causing injuries.

The police officers were taken before a judge that will decide on November 14 whether they can be prosecuted criminally, although, in the meantime, they are free.

To close out the week, another story involved municipal police agents that turned out to the leaders of a gang of extortionists and "cobracuotas" (protection money collectors).
 




On Thursday, the initial arrest of five suspected criminals was widely disseminated because it happened in part due to the decisive actions of a Traffic police agent who pursued two vehicles that had just been involved in Molotov bomb attack against a mechanic's shop whose owner refused to pay the "cuota" (protection money). That day, the way that the Municipal Police coordinated an operation to surround the criminals, one of which fired his pistol against the officers, was notable.

The next day, the case took an important twist when a municipal police agent was arrested and presented to pretrial authorities by his fellow officers after the investigation revealed that he was the leader of the gang and he received the "cuota" money.

Just yesterday, it happened that two other agents, who could not be arrested, also participated in that criminal activity along with Edgar Antonio Castaneda, the (police) officer who, when he appeared before the Public Ministry, said he knew the detainees but denied leading the gang.

That's how the week closed, but the recent register is full of more horror stories in which the police have dirtied their badge and their uniform to become victimizers instead of protectors of the citizens.

Just last week, four other municipal agents were subjected to criminal prosecution, all of them for abuse of authority and torture committed against two young men they stopped with a car that was reported s stolen and who presumably had committed a carjacking.

One of the officers was also accused of aggravated rape.

An arraignment magistrate (juez de garantias) ruled that there were sufficient elements to initiate criminal proceedings, after the State Attorney General filed the charges described above, for offenses committed against the two suspected car thieves that they detained on October 18 in Colonia Las Haciendas.

Initiating criminal proceedings against the police officers was made possible due to the actions of the prosecutor who was assigned the case that the cops filed against the suspected carjackers. Upon noticing the injuries that a doctor was able to confirm right there, upon questioning the suspects and listening to the statement regarding the rape and the threats to keep them from saying anything, the prosecutor ordered the arrest of the municipal agents. 

The four agents of the Public Safety (Department) face preventive imprisonment while the proceedings against them are exhausted.
Two UTEP Engineering students ran out of gas in Juarez, the girls father went for gas
as the young couple waited.  That is when municipal police came and became very agressive

According to the State Human Rights Commission (CEDH; Comision Estatal de Derechos Humanos), there have been 35 complaints filed against municipal police officers for unlawful arrest, theft and abuse of authority. Also, there are some cases of torture and physical and verbal assault inside the police district facilities.

Since the beginning of the month, another dozen complaints of abuse and human rights violations by police officers from different agencies have been received at the mobile units that were installed by the CEDH and the Security Table (Mesa de Seguridad) at several locations around the city.

But the complaints began to skyrocket since last year when the Municipal Ministry of Public Security (Secretaria de Seguridad Publica Municipal), led by Lt. Col. Julian Leyzaola, launched the strategy of "sectorization" which, in essence, involved gradually taking territorial control by zones with reinforcements from agents and new patrol vehicles that were able to carry out a type of "sweep" in each of the districts. 

However, the operation was not limited to preventive patrols and developing community ties, but rather, it degenerated into simple forays whose ultimate objective was to generate the maximum possible number of arrests.

There was so much abuse of authority that the "offenses" of many of the detainees was nothing more than their physical appearance, a lack of an official identification document or not being able to prove "making an honest living" to the police officer.

It is unacceptable that, despite numerous complaints, the practice continues. And even though the authorities deny systematically that the police officers are working under arrest quotas, the courts continue to be filled with these types of cases in which, in addition, there is a prevailing tendency to criminalize the most vulnerable sectors of society.

How can they pretend to take a step towards a community police model -- to regain the neighborhood police character-- if, aware of the abuse on a daily basis, the last thing a citizen wants is to have a police officer nearby?

There are, then, areas that will not allow more delay, and the first one has to do with a review of work processes and schemes that affect only the statistics of police intervention or the Treasury, from the payment of fines, but which are not necessarily related to a decrease in crimes.

Another is the perennial demand for purging police agencies, which has never been effective due to  operational and budgetary incapacity that all levels of government of have demonstrated, despite the fact that the implementation of professional fitness controls (examenes de confianza) was diagnosed as a priority some time ago.

Although in many of the cases police officers have been charged, that was possible because of the willingness of their commanders to bring charges against the officers involved, or because the protectionist culture among different police and pretrial agencies has been eliminated, the public is still waiting to learn about the systematic application of exemplary punishment of all those who betrayed the trust placed in them as public servants.

Until these pending matters are resolved, even with the undeniable decrease in crime statistics, it will be difficult to convince the community, internal or external, that the City of Juarez can be presented as a "success" in the area of public safety.

29 comments:

  1. Hey Vato: Good post. Wondering where Havana is

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bomb the shit out of mexico problem solve

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bastard & Scumbag cops are in every country...America too has it's share of Scumbag corrupt cops, bomb America too....Your stupid comments prove that you are a "Bubba Redneck".

      Delete
    2. Stfu this fool right mexico has no hope put them out of there misery

      Delete
  3. Good article Vato, thank you

    ReplyDelete
  4. Was in Juarez for my wife's visa appointment. The police treated us like shit, but luckily a policia federal came and said we can go. while leaving you can see the federal scolding the city police. crazy shit. thank god for no more mexico.

    ReplyDelete
  5. People already hate cops as it is... all these idiots are doing is making their own situation worse...

    ReplyDelete
  6. I live hear in jauerz the police are thiefs they rob extort everyone here we have nothing left

    ReplyDelete
  7. This was "El Senor's" way of cleaning up the region. I guess that 9 year old kid posed a real threat. But he does'nt kill innocents or do the wrong thing like other cartels. When they busted la barbie he had said that when "el senor" got there he had bought the special police unit to clean up. This region of Mexico was awesome until he came to start his bullshit war. By the way you geniuses that talk about prices and praising any cartel you're being recorded and can be charged will conspiracy or pose a any threat to the state be charged with terrorism by the patriot act. Hey but since you're probably connected you should'nt worry. I just found out that "el senor' just bailed out china with a loan with his billions. He's also on the verge of buying Alaska and Hawaii from the US. I think he might buy Australia too for his new home.

    ReplyDelete
  8. @12:52 PM Where the fuck do you live? Sweden? At least here in the US the police will protect you and not extort, rob, or intimadate you like back in Mexico. My cousin who installs AC's got the shit beat out of him by the police in Juarez when he was coming back from Christmas in Zacatecas. This guy is humble is a real likeable good person. They stopped their bus and he had his youger cousin with him and when they started messing with him he told them to leave him alone. They're commanding officer I guess got out his truck and told him to shut up and my cousin told him that the people should'nt fear the law but look for them to help and protect the people. Then that shit happened for questioning them. Mexico is lost and Godless. Here in the US we all feel safe and at least the police where I live in Texas are good people who take pride in the good they do.

    ReplyDelete
  9. @1:51pm dude,the idiot that said bomb the shit out of mexico,how do you know he is even american?
    Got alot of shit stirrers on here that want you to reply to there stupid messages,so dont!!!
    ignore the DUMBASSES.

    ReplyDelete
  10. where's all the nutthugger's "help,help,help us Chapo.....help!!!"

    ReplyDelete
  11. 1:51 finally some 1 said what ppl needed to hear u couldn't put it any better damn mi respetos compa

    ReplyDelete
  12. 7:06 if you think that is kool but i'v seen diferent shit.i lived in illinois for 11 years same town same city cops r assholes,rasists as they can be.im mexican my girl is born in u.s. and she is half white half mexican.every time

    ReplyDelete
  13. is there any part of the Mexican administration that isn't brutal, corrupt and plain evil?

    What's happening in Mexico is being carried out by Mexicans against their own countrymen. No-one's forcing them to cut of eachother's heads other than other Mexicans. America's drug policy is deeply flawed but it's not responsible, solely, for the rancid corruption in Mexico.

    Mexico is a cautionary tale to the rest of the world - this is what happens when only the criminals have guns and the govt controls everything...

    ReplyDelete
  14. Don't put words in other people's mouth.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I fucking love the U.S.A

    No land on this planet compares!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I fucking love the USA....Earlier we had Dubiya Bush as president & now we have Barack Hussein Osama as president.

      Delete
  16. America is fucked too, for sure people believe in the American dream because they are asleep

    ReplyDelete
  17. C'mon mx. Why Do you let the police get away with that? They are sitting ducks. I just don't get it....go get a hunting rifle and pick them off!!!

    ReplyDelete
  18. It's easy to avoid cops in any country.. carry a box of doughnuts of all flavors .. this should keep them away for a while.. he or she pulls you over just say " sorry officer I know whatever I did was wrong, but here's doughnut and I apologie's"... But if in Mexico carry a box of Gansitos Marinela no one, i mean NO ONE says no to them..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cop. Says i pulled you over to kick your ass. But then he sees the gansito halfway in ypur pocket. Ok ok is that a gansito in your pocket or are ypu happy to see me? jajajaja you so crasee

      Delete
  19. Out of the US, Canada, and Mexico...Mexican cops are the only ones who have not beaten me up yet.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Those gansitos are fucking good

    ReplyDelete
  21. I would like to know if on the 14th those police officers were released or formally charged with attempted murder..? I all ready pretty much know what the outcome was but I'm sure "Your Readers" would also like to know the outcome.

    ReplyDelete
  22. the 14 are still in custody dude.@11:33am

    ReplyDelete

Comments are moderated, refer to policy for more information.
Envía fotos, vídeos, notas, enlaces o información
Todo 100% Anónimo;

borderlandbeat@gmail.com