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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | July 2005 
Mexican Anti-Crime Group Asks Police to Set Up Nationwide Hotline
 Mark Stevenson - Associated Press
Mexico City – A Mexican anti-crime group asked police to set up a nationwide hotline to report crimes, saying they could model the number on a toll-free, nationwide number set up by a pizza chain to take orders.
While Mexico's 066 crime number is in use in 936 of the nation's approximately 2,500 cities and towns, about one-third of the nation's residents must still memorize different, seven-digit numbers for police and emergency services in each town.
"If fast food chains have been able to set up nationwide numbers, why haven't the authorities been able to?" said Maria Elena Morera, president of the civic group Mexico United Against Crime.
Activists also noted police are behind the fast food industry in another way: A call to one nationwide pizza delivery number gets a guarantee of service within a half-hour, a claim police are far from matching in most Mexico cities.
The group called a news conference to announce it had gathered half of the 1 million signatures it is seeking to back demands for anti-crime reforms like the unified emergency number, better pay for police and easier crime-reporting procedures.
For example, the group wants crime victims to be able to type up and submit a crime report themselves by computer, rather than having to wait for overworked and often unwilling public magistrate's agents to write up the report for them.
Some agents demand cash bribes in return for writing up and filing a crime report.
"This would break the back of corruption," Morera said.
Mexico United Against Crime also unveiled the last in a series of three highly emotional anti-crime advertisements to be aired on television.
The first two ads showed a woman whose children were kidnapped and a man whose fingers were cut off by kidnappers. Both victims demanded more anti-crime efforts.
The final ad, to be aired soon, depicts television news personality Talina Fernandez talking about the death of her daughter, Mariana Levy, in April on a Mexico City street after she was approached by a man carrying a gun.
While Levy was not attacked or assaulted, she died of a heart attack, apparently due to the shock of thinking she was about to be robbed.
"They killed her with fear," Fernandez said. "We are demanding the authorities respect our right to live."
Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who will step down Friday to seek the presidency in 2006, has accused the group of using the ads as a political weapon to smear him as being soft on crime.
However, Morera said the ads were not intended to be a specific criticism of city authorities, noting that similar crime problems exist throughout the country. |
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