Overhaul of Federal Police Starts in Mexico
Just 10 days after taking office, Mexico’s new attorney general announced a radical reorganization of the Federal Judicial Police on Tuesday, starting with the firing of five top commanders and the elimination of special details within the force.
The actions were taken, according to a statement from Atty. Gen. Humberto Benitez’s office, “to make the force more efficient and to avoid illegal activities.”
Mexican police at all levels have come under increasing pressure in the past year to restore public order in the wake of the unsolved assassinations of a Roman Catholic cardinal, the leading presidential candidate and the Tijuana police chief, in addition to a wave of kidnapings and audacious gun battles between rival narcotics gangs.
Benitez cracked down especially hard on the department in charge of investigations, eliminating it and firing its five commanders.
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