On Wednesday of last week, at the second Public Security (Seguridad Ciudadana) meeting, the mayors of the Guadalajara Metropolitan Zone (Zona Metropolitana de Guadalajara—ZMG) all agreed to reject the federal government’s proposal for a unified command at the municipal police level. One of the main arguments presented by the mayor of Tlaquepaque, Miguel Castro, is that if municipals lost public law enforcement power they would not be able to implement municipal authority because the state governments could take over.
Also noted in the meeting was that not all the municipals face the same public security conditions, emphasizing that it would be more complicated if the state government were to coordinate all security. They said that efforts for improvement should be focused on strategies like enhancing coordination between police groups and promoting the formation of the Metropolitan Center of Strategic Coordination of Public Security (Centro Metropolitano de Coordinación Estratégica de Seguridad Ciudadana), that would have the function of a decentralized public organism and would require an estimated investment of thirty million pesos.
The reunion was a continuation of the first meeting held June 3 of last year, in which they agreed to integrate a coordinating body amongst the public safety agencies in each of the eight municipals in the ZMG.
Sources:
Blanco, Sergio. “Alcaldes de la ZMG rechazan el mando único en la policía.” Milenio. 24 Junio, 2010.
Informador. “Alcaldes de la zona metropolitana se oponen al mando único.” Informador. 24 Junio, 2010.
Navarro, José Mendoza. “Alcaldes dicen NO al mando único policiaco.” El Occidental. 24 Junio, 2010.
