Mexico Sees Decline in Kidnappings
 The News
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November 25, 2009
| | Mexico's President Felipe Calderon, center right, shakes hands with an official during the inauguration of a new high-tech intelligence center for the federal police in Mexico City, Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009. (AP/Gregory Bull) | |
The number of reported kidnapping cases has reduced dramatically, following arrests of several kidnapping gangs, President Felipe Calderon said Tuesday.
"I know that it isn't enough, but I know that this indicates we are on the right path," Calderon said during the inauguration of the Federal Police's Center of Intelligence (CIPF).
Without providing figures, Calderon said that by last year, kidnappings had rose dramatically, but have since fallen. However, more than 14,000 people have been killed since Calderon launched his war on drugs soon after taking office in December 2006, and deaths have been escalating. This year, more than 6,700 people have died, according to media reports.
Miguel Angel Mancera Espinosa attorney general of the Federal District, said that capital authorities are "in line" with what Calderon said on kidnappings. Reported kidnappings in the city have fallen between 40 and 50 percent, he said, thanks to close work between local and Federal Police. Mancera praised the CIPF, calling it one of the most important fronts in providing technology to police agencies in the fight against kidnapping and organized crime.
"The (CIPF) will integrate technical and operative capacities for the entire country with an institutional perspective," Federal Public Security (SSP) Director Genaro Garcia Luna said.
The sophisticated underground center, located in Mexico City's SSP facilities, is designed to create, analyze and process crime data, Garcia said. The three-level facility will coordinate the actions in four modules, including Security, Missions, National Alerts and Strategic Installations, along with a module to Combat Kidnapping and Extortion. It is connected to more than 600 security hubs in states and municipalities across the country and 169 Federal Police offices, Garcia said.
In addition, the CIPF will allow the Federal Police and the government to work more closely together, Calderon said. The center has databases on information collected by police, maps indicating crime hotspots, national registries of police officers, vehicles, thumbprints and photographs, and software to recognize facial, DNA and voice characteristics.
Also present at the inauguration were U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Carlos Pascual; billionaire Carlos Slim; First Lady Margarita Zavala; Federal Attorney General Arturo Chavez Chavez; and National Defense Secretary Guillermo Galvan.
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News Around the Republic of Mexico | November 2009 
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