Jaltemba Sol
As kidnapping rates soar, Mexico City's mayor is recruiting
300,000 residents to monitor – and turn in – corrupt cops.
Mexico City - Shopkeeper Mayra Bermejo would have a hard
time turning in a corrupt police officer even though she – like so many other
Mexicans – is exasperated by the growing number of killings and kidnappings that
authorities are unable to prevent.
"Once he knows I've denounced him, I'm an open target," says
Ms. Bermejo. "He may even send street thugs to harass me."
Seventy-two percent of city residents say they don't trust
the police, according to a recent survey in the daily newspaper Reforma. And if
Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard has his way, a new corps of 300,000 residents
will become watchdogs of sorts – monitoring and turning in police officials who
operate outside the law.
The anticrime measure, one of scores floated in the capital
and by federal authorities in recent days, comes in the wake of a high-profile
abduction and murder of a teenage boy, allegedly at the hands of corrupt cops.
The incident sparked outrage among the public, kindling a chorus of demands for
greater security and accountability, as well as raising hopes among anticrime
advocates that average citizens will become more active in the country's fight
against crime.
"The answer will only come from the bottom. If civil society
doesn't move, the authorities won't move," says José Antonio Ortega, the head of
the Citizen's Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice, which will join
massive anticrime protests later this month. "We have to wake up; the people
must come on board if security is to return to Mexico."
438 reported kidnappings
With 438 reported kidnappings last year – and probably many
more unreported – one more abduction typically would have fallen on ears
deafened by the grim state of security in Mexico. But the case of Fernando
Martí, the teenage son of a wealthy Mexican family, has resonated nationwide.
His body was found Aug. 1, after he had been abducted at a fake police
checkpoint two months earlier and after his family reportedly paid a ransom in
full.
It comes as news of abductions along the US-Mexican border,
including cases involving US citizens, has increasingly made headlines.
Kidnapping increased from 278 victims in 2005 to 325 victims in 2006, according
to government figures. In 2007, the number jumped by 35 percent. Fifty-nine
kidnap victims, including Fernando, have been killed since Mexico President
Felipe Calderón took office in December 2006.
Most citizens have little faith in the police, says Arturo
Alvarado, a sociologist at the College of Mexico. By some estimates, 1 in 4
crimes goes unreported, he says. Instead, residents find their own solutions,
employing security guards or gating themselves in their neighborhoods.
That is why many residents say they would be unwilling to
take on the role of citizen watchdog.
"The fear of reprisal is enough to keep anyone from
denouncing police corruption. Even police chiefs are afraid to act, for fear
that they will be killed," says Carlo Cuenca, a shopkeeper in Mexico City.
It is this fear that Ortega says must be defeated if the
country is to move forward. "The answer is not with the police. They have
demonstrated collusion with organized crime and kidnappings. For this reason we
must break with the fear. Thousands of us must march to show that we are not
afraid," he says.
Frustration comes as Mr. Calderón has sent tens of thousands
of federal police and military personnel across the country to tamp down drug
violence that has, nevertheless, persisted. Some 2,000 people have been killed
this year in connection to the illegal drug trade, according to local media
tallies.
Yet kidnapping terrorizes citizens more than drug-related
violence, because victims are more often targeted randomly. And since several
cops have been arrested in connection with the Martí case, a new sense of anger
not seen in at least four years – the last time civil organizations staged a
massive antikidnapping protest – has surfaced.
The government's new moves
The government has moved quickly to quell public anger.
Mexican authorities announced they will open five national antikidnapping
centers in five cities throughout the country, to be staffed with a new squad of
300 officers. Calderón also proposed life sentences for kidnappers under certain
conditions, including if the perpetrator has been a police officer.
"Society demands that we succeed in this challenge, that we
end police corruption," he said this week.
Mayor Ebrard, in addition to creating a corps of
neighborhood watch groups, called for the overhaul of the city's detective
agency and a new anti-kidnapping hot line.
But Mr. Alvarado says these responses are merely a way to
"satisfy the customer" – a political tactic that does not show a long-term
commitment to root out corruption. "It can create very bad, punitive policies
without dealing with the real source of crime," he adds.
Seamstress Debora Ramirez agrees. "This program would be a
step in the right direction, but the best use of resources would be in providing
better training and accountability in the police force instead of just putting
civilians in their place," she says.
"What do I gain from denouncing a corrupt cop?" Ms. Ramirez
asks. "If I am persistent enough they may start an inquiry, and, if I'm very
lucky, they would detain him. But in the end, they'd release him and it would
all be forgotten. He'd be policing my neighborhood a week later. What kind of
position would that put me in?"
María Elena Morera, the president of the leading civilian
group Mexico United Against Crime, says that it is not just fear that fuels
inaction. It is impunity that has fomented a culture of powerlessness here.
"Citizens don't report [crimes] because they know nothing will happen," she
says. "You have to go, wait in line, you don't get treated well, and most
likely, it will be for nothing."
Civilian watchdogs, she says, can help change the status
quo, but the concept can backfire. "If their function is to be vigilant, it can
work. But the risk is that they are used by the government for political
expression," she says. "They need to be serving the community, not the
government."
• Rafael Rivero contributed from Mexico City.