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 Editorials | July 2007 
Can Mexico's Officers Pass Corruption Test?
 San Antonio Express-News
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Guided by the philosophy that preventing a fire is easier than stopping one, Mexican officials are taking a new approach to corruption: They are trying to stifle it on the front end.
For years, authorities have purged police forces in noble but misguided attempts to end corruption, cleansings that often swept the dismissed cops into full-time positions with organized crime.
Those days may be ending.
As part of a crackdown on drug gangs, federal police officers will undergo psychological reviews to determine which cops may be corrupted by the warring cartels, the Associated Press reported.
If this attempt to cleanse law enforcement seems silly and naďve, it may be wise to remember that American businesses often give prospective employees psychological tests. And there is nothing silly about the other measures that would supplement the psychological testing — polygraphs, drug exams and investigations into whether the assets of the officers are in line with their earnings.
The move follows a series of incidents in which federal police have been caught working for drug cartels.
"We are well-aware that the Mexican people are demanding police be honest, clean and trustworthy," Public Safety Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna told the AP. "It's obvious that there are mafias that don't want the situation to change so they can continue to enrich themselves under the protection of corruption and crime."
Almost 300 officers will be subject to the reviews, and those who flunk the polygraphs and drug exams will be kicked off the force.
Drug cartels, their operations abetted by corrupt law enforcement officers, are believed responsible for about 2,000 murders in 2006.
If the Mexican government can reduce the pool of corrupt cops, the benefits should be twofold: The cartels will be hamstrung in their recruitment efforts, and the police force, rid of dirty of cops, will be more effective.
The plan isn't foolproof, but it is a serious attempt to address a huge problem, and it illustrates the bold and proactive approach Felipe Calderón has taken since he assumed the presidency. |
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