Crime, Safety, and the Police

Cracking down on the drug cartels and dealers is dangerous for the cops and will not work since the dealers make their money by selling drugs, not by robbing tourists. It is the drug users who rob tourists to get money to buy drugs and it is safe for the local cops to arrest them since they are not organized crime. Prohibition did not work for alcohol and likely will not work for drugs but arresting the users is likely the best way to reduce crime in Mexico. Look at other countries like China and Japan. China had a huge drug problem and they required addicts to get treatment and after that punished them for using, to my recollection.

Offhand, I've seen dealers run off and hide when the local cops drive by so some cops must be cracking down but Tijuana is like Chicago in the 1930's. Prohibiting the sale of alcohol didn't work in Chicago and prohibiting the sale of drugs hasn't worked in Tijuana. Legalizing the sale but prohibiting the purchase of drugs might work if the cops arrested the users / buyers, not the dealers.

[QUOTE=Hargow20;2157187]It is really amazing and disgusting that there is people selling drugs in the open and cops are doing nothing about it. The cops need to crack down on the drug dealers if they hope to reduce crime in Tijuana and Mexico. !![/QUOTE]

What happened after you paid them the $80? Did they take you back to where they picked you up?

[QUOTE=HobbyFan;2157915]There are reports in other sections within last week about getting aggressively searched at the old border drop off, and picked up and searched while simply walking in the alley looking for an americana. Neither guy got robbed, fortunately.

I was picked up by the police 10 months ago while talking to an Americana type chica. First problem in many years. They said I was weaving while walking and talking to all the girls. That was simply not true. I was polite in responding. I would not back down or offer a bribe despite multiple threats of spending the night in a Mexican jail. The police did not back down either. They drove me to an actual zona norte police station where a supposed judge sitting in an office marked judge or magistrate in Spanish (I don't remember) fined me $ 80 US. This sum was more or less negotiated -- after studying my cash. Maybe others would have said "no" even at that point, but if they were going to take it this far and had a night judge in on the game, I did think they might hold me all night. I had things to do the next day.

Not surprisingly, the machinery for printing receipts was out of order.[/QUOTE]

Was it only Chicago or all US States and Cities? What years did they ban alcohol in US?

[QUOTE=Travv;2158014]Cracking down on the drug cartels and dealers is dangerous for the cops and will not work since the dealers make their money by selling drugs, not by robbing tourists. It is the drug users who rob tourists to get money to buy drugs and it is safe for the local cops to arrest them since they are not organized crime. Prohibition did not work for alcohol and likely will not work for drugs but arresting the users is likely the best way to reduce crime in Mexico. Look at other countries like China and Japan. China had a huge drug problem and they required addicts to get treatment and after that punished them for using, to my recollection.

Offhand, I've seen dealers run off and hide when the local cops drive by so some cops must be cracking down but Tijuana is like Chicago in the 1930's. Prohibiting the sale of alcohol didn't work in Chicago and prohibiting the sale of drugs hasn't worked in Tijuana. Legalizing the sale but prohibiting the purchase of drugs might work if the cops arrested the users / buyers, not the dealers.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=GoodSense3;2158892]Was it only Chicago or all US States and Cities? What years did they ban alcohol in US?[/QUOTE]Prohibition in the United States was a nationwide constitutional ban on the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages from 1920 to 1933.

"Tijuana's homeless migrants have long been seen by many locals as a nuisance: bad for business, protagonists of petty crime, drug addicts.

In 2009, Mexican federal law decriminalized the possession of small amounts of heroin, marijuana and other drugs. But Tijuana's city code allows its police to arrest people for consuming drugs in public, as well as things as wide-ranging as "inciting vice" or "bothering people in public. " Tijuana's current police chief, Marco Antonio Sotomayor, says the city arrests homeless migrants for a number of such crimes. "About 70 percent of the people we detain are homeless people who commit minor crimes," he said. . . "We're completely changing our approach. Because it's not about locking people up to keep an area clean. It's about giving them an opportunity to change their lives," he said. . . "The problem of violence can be resolved simply if we resolve the problem of addiction," Sotomayor said. "That's the key."

In March 2015, Tijuana took unprecedented action, evacuating a large encampment in the Tijuana River canal and rounding up homeless across the city, sending more than a thousand of them to drug rehab centers — some against their will. KPBS documented a number of problems with the mass relocation. Some people were reported missing. Not everyone placed in rehab was on drugs. Others were hit by cars while running away from police during raids of the canal. The rehab centers in Tijuana are often the subject of human rights complaints, requiring abstinence and relying on chains, ropes and other tools to restrict the mobility of recovering addicts.

While Tijuana police continue to patrol the canal, so does the Mexican army. "The army is not trained to deal with drug use problems or even deportee attention. It's like using a machete to do a surgery," Arredondo said. "You're using a blunt tool for something that is extremely delicate. " Arredondo said alternatively, the city should offer safe consumption rooms and free methadone to wean users off heroin. "

[URL]http://www.kpbs.org/news/2018/mar/28/displaced-two-countries-tijuanas-homeless-migrants/[/URL]

The rateros should be happy they are in Mexico and not Brazil. In Brazil, the police do sweeps periodically to clear out druggies and street criminals at night. In the morning, they send in the garbage trucks to pick up the corpses off the streets from the back alley executions and haul them away.

Zona Norte police presence has escalated significantly since January. I was there on Wednesday from 11 PM to 3 AM and I kept seeing a military presence and heavy police presence. Anyone know what the heck is going on a kind of feels like they are hunting for drugs but I keep reading is that gringos keep getting stopped and shake down. Things change when you're not in the states for three months I already miss Japan and Thailand.

Nothing really new. Police enforcement tends to go in cycles.

[QUOTE=EBoardbuilder;2160223]Zona Norte police presence has escalated significantly since January. I was there on Wednesday from 11 PM to 3 AM and I kept seeing a military presence and heavy police presence. Anyone know what the heck is going on a kind of feels like they are hunting for drugs but I keep reading is that gringos keep getting stopped and shake down. Things change when you're not in the states for three months I already miss Japan and Thailand.[/QUOTE]

Question for the group. So far, I guess I've been lucky. I have not had a single interaction with the police. But these stories of gringos stopped and shake downs really makes me believe it's a matter of time. My question. How many of these stories are "legit" searches and how many are shakedowns?

I've read a lot of angst about the rateros and drug pushers. But we also don't like the police presence. So my thought is, if I get stopped and searched "legitimately", I can deal with that. But what percent is legit and what percent of these stops are simply bribes? I'm not sure anyone can answer that. But I'm just thinking we need to accept the reality of police presence. That in itself is not a bad thing but we need to highlight shakedowns and bribes, not just police presence.

[QUOTE=Dcrist0527;2160361]Question for the group. So far, I guess I've been lucky. I have not had a single interaction with the police. But these stories of gringos stopped and shake downs really makes me believe it's a matter of time. My question. How many of these stories are "legit" searches and how many are shakedowns?

I've read a lot of angst about the rateros and drug pushers. But we also don't like the police presence. So my thought is, if I get stopped and searched "legitimately", I can deal with that. But what percent is legit and what percent of these stops are simply bribes? I'm not sure anyone can answer that. But I'm just thinking we need to accept the reality of police presence. That in itself is not a bad thing but we need to highlight shakedowns and bribes, not just police presence.[/QUOTE]My thoughts on this subject. Police in the USA And Mexico can pretty much classify criminals by sight alone. With the main difference being in Mexico they do not need probable cause to stop and search you. So if you look like a normal older gringo sex tourist type and you find yourself being stopped and searched probably 97 per cent chance its going to be an attempted shakedown. Some cops are downright evil who will just steal your money. Others will just be hoping to scare you hoping for a drunk in public violation or make up shit like you need a perscription for that viagra in your pocket.

On the other hand if they since a criminal type, maybe neck tattoo or just hanging in the wrong area. More likely a legit search.

I was in La Zona with a wingman Friday last week. Policia presence was light, a couple moto cops ran around.

But there were 2 pickup trucks each carrying 5-6 soldiers in desert-camouflage uniforms. The pick up in front had a guy with his finger on the trigger of a 50-cal machine gun, the big one usually mounted on tanks. They looked very serious. Damn. Scared the shit out of me.

Don't know whom they expect to fight. Must be guys with big weapons. Hate to be near a gun fight with that big mother shooting.

When it comes to gringos. There are basically no "legit" searches. 99% of the time the stops and searches are extortion attempts. Best you can do is not give the cops any probable cause. Don't wander around aimlessly, stay in the bars while intoxicated, don't carry any medicine on you, and try to blend in with the local population. And one other thing. Tijuana cops are much more of a threat to you than rateros and street riff raff. Avoid any interactions with the cops.

[QUOTE=Dcrist0527;2160361]Question for the group. So far, I guess I've been lucky. I have not had a single interaction with the police. But these stories of gringos stopped and shake downs really makes me believe it's a matter of time. My question. How many of these stories are "legit" searches and how many are shakedowns?

I've read a lot of angst about the rateros and drug pushers. But we also don't like the police presence. So my thought is, if I get stopped and searched "legitimately", I can deal with that. But what percent is legit and what percent of these stops are simply bribes? I'm not sure anyone can answer that. But I'm just thinking we need to accept the reality of police presence. That in itself is not a bad thing but we need to highlight shakedowns and bribes, not just police presence.[/QUOTE]

This is not an April's Fools joke. It's serious. Feds seized BACKPAGE yesterday.

Looks like Feds wants the pervs to stay home and jack off to porn. Hehe.

[URL]http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-pol-backpage-fbi-20180406-story.html[/URL]

Federal authorities take down [URL]Backpage.com[/URL], accused of being a haven for online prostitution.

By Joseph Tanfani.

APR 07,2018.

6:50 PM Washington.

Federal authorities take down [URL]Backpage.com[/URL], accused of being a haven for online prostitution.

Picture: From left, [URL]Backpage.com[/URL] Chief Executive Carl Ferrer, former owner James Larkin, Chief Operating Officer Andrew Padilla, and former owner Michael Lacey are sworn in before a 2017 congressional hearing. (Cliff Owen / Associated Press).

In the climax of a fight that pitted foes of sex trafficking against advocates of free internet speech, the Justice Department on Friday seized the [URL]Backpage.com[/URL] website and raided the home of its cofounder.

The site, long a haven for sex ads, began shutting down Friday morning, as FBI agents began taking down a network of web pages all over the world. A notice on the site said it had been seized as part of an enforcement action by the FBI, the IRS and the USA Postal Inspection Service.

Agents raided the Sedona, Ariz, home of Michael Lacey, the site's cofounder, according to local media reports, but federal authorities would not comment on criminal charges.

[URL]Backpage.com[/URL] has long been under fire from state attorneys general, organizations that fight child sex trafficking and victims of the prostitution business who have tried to sue the company for damages. California prosecutors filed state criminal charges against Backpage last year, but that case and others foundered because of protections in the federal Communications Decency Act, written to protect free speech on the internet.

Congress moved to strip away that shield late last month with a measure to carve out an exception in the communications law after a high-volume political battle. When signed into law by President Trump, the measure will allow states to proceed against websites that knowingly assist or support sex trafficking.

Silicon Valley trade groups and free-speech advocates such as the ACLU fought the new measure, warning that it would create havoc by forcing companies to try to get a handle on wild online speech.

But those arguments were overwhelmed by stories from teenagers about being sold for sex on Backpage. A letter from attorneys general around the country said they had evidence of teenagers being trafficked on the site.

Advocates for victims of trafficking said the takedown of Backpage was long overdue — especially since the Communications Decency Act never restrained federal prosecutions, only state ones.

"You heard the stories over and over and over again from kids who were sold there," said Carol Smolenski, executive director of ECPAT USA, an anti-trafficking group. "It's ridiculous that kids could be sold on the internet openly. It was outrageous. ".

A report last year by the Senate Homeland Security Committee found that the website employed software to automatically strip language in ads that pointed to [url=http://isgprohibitedwords.info?CodeWord=CodeWord902][CodeWord902][/url] girls, including "[url=http://isgprohibitedwords.info?CodeWord=CodeWord901][CodeWord901][/url]," "little girl" and "amber alert. " The ads were then published without those stripped words, the report found.

The report also found that Lacey and other owners, although they reportedly sold [URL]Backpage.com[/URL] to a foreign company, retained significant control through a web of shell companies.

[QUOTE=Ctytek;2164292]When it comes to gringos. There are basically no "legit" searches. 99% of the time the stops and searches are extortion attempts. Best you can do is not give the cops any probable cause. Don't wander around aimlessly, stay in the bars while intoxicated, don't carry any medicine on you, and try to blend in with the local population. And one other thing. Tijuana cops are much more of a threat to you than rateros and street riff raff. Avoid any interactions with the cops.[/QUOTE]Seems like all of these guidelines would be easy to follow except for carrying medicine. Generic viagra is very tempting and completely legal in Mexico.

Also, has anyone tried calling the Sindicatura and complaining? I heard you can even call 911 in Mexico and they'll hook you up with a translator over the phone. I think I read some reports about people reporting harassment by the police on this board.

[QUOTE=Flyer47;2164385]

Also, has anyone tried calling the Sindicatura and complaining? I heard you can even call 911 in Mexico and they'll hook you up with a translator over the phone. I think I read some reports about people reporting harassment by the police on this board.[/QUOTE]While it was at least a couple years ago. I was robbed by the police. At the time 066 was the equivalant of 911 in Tijuana. I called and the person who answered spoke english. They immediatly sent a supervisor to the scene. Of course you will need to be able to ID the culprit. In this case I had the car # of the thieves. They were called back to the location where they were ordered to give me back my money and apologize with hugs. The hugs a bit strange but hey its Mexico.

Then in an attempt to let headquarters know everything was ok they wanted me to call in and say there was no problem. However we never did find a phone that worked.