Mexico City Police Complain of Extortion : Corruption: Their commanders demand money from them, cops say, forcing them to solicit bribes from citizens.

The scene in the traffic-choked streets of downtown Mexico City is a familiar one: a police tow truck double-parked with a sedan hooked to the back and a bored officer in the cab waiting, waiting, waiting.

The sedan’s owner rushes out, argues, then dips into his pocket and discreetly shakes hands with the officer. The car is released.

Until last month, that officer might have been Jose Raul Lopez Vasquez, a 23-year veteran of the Mexico City police force who charges that police commanders extort money from cops on the beat, forcing them in turn to hit up the citizens they are supposed to protect.

“The commanders demand money from us and if we don’t comply, we end up guarding banks or cleaning bathrooms,” Lopez said. “The situation is that our salaries aren’t high enough to pay what they ask.”

Mexico City motorists, vendors and other residents have long accused their police of demanding bribes, called a mordida --a bite. But recently police officers have joined the chorus of complaints, charging that their bosses are squeezing them dry. They are speaking out, they say, because they can no longer afford to pay tribute.

Lopez said he had to pay his commander between $16 and $50 a day on a salary of about $233 per month. Those payments ended in February, 10 days after he joined a police protest outside the mayor’s office: He was fired in what he called a “reprisal.”

Other policemen who protested have been transferred, reprimanded or dismissed. In each case, the government has gone to great lengths to discredit the demonstrators and insists that there was no connection between the protest and job changes.

The officers are disgruntled employees, many of whose records contain arrests and allegations of extortion against them, police officials and a police press release say.

Former Mexico City police officer Ricardo Chaires charges that he was abducted for three days, blindfolded, beaten and dumped by a roadside after he organized the police protest. Government and police officials suggest that Chaires is something of a “kook” with a police record who fabricated the abduction story.

More diplomatically, Rene Hernandez, a spokesman for Mayor Manuel Camacho, said: “In this case we have to be careful to analyze all charges. He may not have the same credibility as a person who has been quiet and disciplined.”

But no one denies that Chaires was an officer with at least seven years on the force. As such, he may be one of the best examples of what’s wrong with the police department.

Chaires denies he took bribes but says he had to pay his boss $12 to $18 a day for the use of a patrol car before he was fired last July. He says he earned money on the side selling household appliances.

Amalia Garcia, president of the Public Security and Civil Protection Commission of the federal district’s legislative assembly, said she has received about 150 complaints from police officers in the last two months.

“We get two types of complaints here: one from citizens who have been police extortion victims and the other from police who have labor problems or say their bosses are extorting (money from) them,” Garcia said.

“Some of the police have records, but not all. The point is they are part of a vicious circle of corruption. The structure is vice-ridden,” she said.

Police say they must pay daily if they are to keep the more prestigious--and lucrative--assignments in patrol cars and tow trucks. There, they can collect up to $100 from motorists driving their cars on days the vehicles are required to stay in the garage under the mayor’s anti-smog program. Or they can collect about $33 from drivers trying to get their cars released from tow trucks.

Police say they often are required to pay their bosses “rental” on their patrol cars and maintenance on the tow trucks. Commanders also offer to erase a citizen complaint from a policeman’s record or an unexcused absence from work in exchange for payments.

Clarinet player Felipe Flores and 32 other members of the police band complained to city officials that their boss was padding the payroll with dozens of people, including family members, who never showed up for work.

“They split the salary, a week for the boss and a week for each of (the no-shows),” Flores said.

The phantom musicians were fired, but so were Flores and the others who dared to object.

In light of the protests and citizen complaints, Mayor Camacho ordered the police department to make an internal investigation.

Publicly, city officials argue that citizens contribute to the problem of police corruption by offering or agreeing to pay bribes. For example, they say, most traffic violators would prefer to pay a “fine” on the street corner than go down to the station, although such violators never receive tickets or receipts for the “fines.”

Privately, officials admit that police corruption is an old and serious problem stemming from the low salaries paid to officers. They say that the legislature has to authorize a pay raise.

One official who asked not to be identified said many police don’t stay on the force long enough to become experienced professionals.

Of 2,721 police fired last year for abandoning their jobs, he said, “most of them left because of the low pay.”

Garcia, a member of the opposition Democratic Revolutionary Party, agreed and said that her commission will draft a law to raise salaries and provide adequate training for the officers.