| | |  News Around the Republic of Mexico | October 2008 
300 Police in Juárez are Fired in Cleanup
 Aileen B. Flores - Sun-News
go to original
| | About 300 new police officers are expected to graduate from the police academy in December. | | |
Juarez - More than 300 Juárez police officers were dismissed for corruption after failing confidence exams, Mayor José Reyes Ferriz said.
In an effort to clean up the Juárez police department, 1,600 officers were subjected to polygraph and drug tests, and income verification done by the Mexico federal Public Safety secretary's office.
A total of 334 failed the exams; 175 more remain under investigation for minor negligences; and 200 more officers will be evaluated, Reyes Ferriz said Friday.
During his administration another 600 police officers have been dismissed.
Reyes Ferriz said the confidence exams found some Juárez officers to have ties to organized crime, while others had criminal histories in other states. Some tested positive for drugs.
The police officers who were fired will not be able to work in another law enforcement agency, Reyes Ferriz said.
Federal public safety officials registered fingerprints, DNA samples, voice and iris scans of the officers tested to allow federal authorities to track their future activities.
The Juárez government will help the officers to find jobs in the maquiladora industry. They also will receive severance pay.
Reyes Ferriz said that about 300 new police officers are expected to graduate from the police academy in December.
In the meantime, the Mexican army will do anti-crime patrols as part of Operation Juárez, the new name of Joint Operation Chihuahua.
Juárez officials will travel next week to Chiapas, Jalisco and Veracruz in southern México to recruit former soldiers who might want to join the Juárez police department, he said.
According to Juarez officials, the cleanup process has cost the municipal government more than $19 million pesos.
Mauricio Mauricio Rodriguez, a Juárez police spokesman, said the average monthly salary of a police officer in Juárez is 1,200 pesos.
He said the Juárez police department has raised the officers' salaries 35 percent and added other benefits to discourage them from getting involved with organized crime.
The confidence exams will be carried out every year in an effort to stop corruption, Mauricio Rodriguez said.
Aileen B. Flores reports for the El Paso Times, a member of the Texas-New Mexico Newspapers Partnership, and may be reached at aflores(at)elpasotimes.com. |
|
| |
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us