| | |  News Around the Republic of Mexico | April 2009 
Mexican Army to End Patrols in Juarez Soon
 Mark Stevenson - Associated Press
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| | Soldiers arrive to the crime scene where a man was killed in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Wednesday, April 15, 2009. Drug violence has spiked since Mexico's President Felipe Calderon began a national crackdown on organized crime in 2006. Battles among cartels, their rivals and soldiers have led to nearly 9,000 deaths and a cross-border crime spillover. (AP/Rodrigo Abd) | |
Mexico City — The troubled border city of Ciudad Juarez and the federal government signed an agreement Wednesday to train, recruit and equip enough city police officers to take over from 5,000 army troops now performing security patrols there.
Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz said the army presence starting in March has cut the number of homicides there by 95 percent, from an average of 10 per day in February to about four per week at present.
Under the agreement, new police officers will be recruited to bring the force to about 2,500 by September and 3,000 by the end of the year.
"We will have a sufficiently strong police force so that when the Mexican army withdraws from patrolling, the police can ensure the security of Ciudad Juarez," Reyes Ferriz said.
The city currently has 1,200 officers and has lost personnel far faster than it can replace them on what was once a 1,700-person force. More than 900 agents were fired, resigned or retired last year, many after failing psychological, background and other checks as part of a campaign to clean up the department.
The agreement also provides for a new police radio system, cameras and other equipment costing about 350 million pesos ($27 million).
"The radios we have now in Ciudad Juarez are analog models that are easily listened to. The criminals find out what is being said on the radios," Reyes Ferriz said.
He said criminals often use the police frequency themselves to threaten officers and officials.
Reyes Ferriz added that the "constant" threats he received before the army's arrival have ended. He said he believes many were related to his effort to root out police corruption.
Brutal drug cartel wars in Mexico have cost more than 10,650 lives since December 2006, when President Felipe Calderon launched a crackdown against drug traffickers. More than 1,600 people were killed in Ciudad Juarez last year. |
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