President Felipe Calderón sent an initiative to the Chamber of Deputies to establish a new Public Security for the Federal District, consistent with the actions and guidelines to be established nationwide under the 2008 judicial reform package and the National Public Security System. The proposal was presented at the legislative session held on Thursday, February 18, and was published in the Parliamentary Gazette.
The president’s initiative proposes to establish the Council and Executive Secretary of the local security system, as well as regulations concerning the areas of career service and information obligations, such as systematization, classification, trade, supply, and access. If approved the initiative would establish an Administrative Registry of Arrests and would also integrate the Federal District into the Consolidated Criminal Information System, the National Personnel Registry, and National Registry of Weapons and Equipment.
The District’s public security council would be presided by the Mayor of Mexico City, who can also be substituted by the Secretary of Government. Meanwhile, the executive secretary of the local council must have five years experience in the field of public security and two years of actual residence in Mexico City before his appointment, to ensure basic knowledge of the territory and the reality of local public safety. The mayor will be required submit a quarterly report on the security situation in the DF to the local council of the security system, to encourage transparency and accountability.
The bill also sets guidelines for coordination between the National Public Security System and the System of Public Security of Mexico City. The bill outlines the design, operation, and guidelines under which the police of the capital’s Public Security Ministry will be coordinated with the District’s Public Prosecutor for the investigation and prosecution of crimes under new criminal procedures adopted at the national level in 2008.
Sources:
Salazar, Claudia y Armando Estrop, “Propone FCH ley de seguridad para DF,” Reforma. February 18, 2009.
Notimex. “FCH presenta iniciativa de seguridad para DF”. El Universal. 18 febrero, 2010.
Uno Noticias. “Presenta FCH Ley de Seguridad para el DF”. Prodigy MSN Noticias. 17 febrero, 2010.
