Crime, Safety, and the Police

[quote=surfnk9]a money belt is a good idea. i just forgot to stash my extra bucks. i try to budget so that i don’t have too much left over, but not this trip.

the local cops are so bad now that the federal government took away their guns. you gotta be one group of meshed up cops to have your guns confirep001ed.[/quote]

the tijuana municipal police have their guns back, you were probably stopped by auxillary police, "reserves" if you will. they are not armed.

auxilliary police usually wear white shirts. their badge is a "pinched shield" type that is black with gold lettering. they'll have a shoulder patch that says "auxilliary."

yes, tjpd is one messed up police department. with the level of corruption that is rampant within the department, i doubt it will ever improve. very sad really. the mexican people deserve better

country john

([url]http://www.laweekly.com/general/features/the-island-of-jorge-hank-rhon/12643/?page=1[/url] )

One reason why TJ police has become so corrupt is because their Mayon Jorge Frank Rhon is running TJ as his own business. Jorge Frank owns Auga Caliente and purported to involved in drug trafficking. The other day this one girl told me about this. I had been wondering why TJ crime and corruption has risen so much in TJ.

[QUOTE=Hizark21]([url]http://www.laweekly.com/general/features/the-island-of-jorge-hank-rhon/12643/?page=1[/url] )

One reason why TJ police has become so corrupt is because their Mayon Jorge Frank Rhon is running TJ as his own business. Jorge Frank owns Auga Caliente and purported to involved in drug trafficking. The other day this one girl told me about this. I had been wondering why TJ crime and corruption has risen so much in TJ.[/QUOTE]


TJ was corrupt long before Jorge HANK Rhon took over as mayor in 2004. Anyway Rhon has not been the mayor of Tijuana since February of this year. He stepped down to run for BC governor.

I wish people on this board would do a little research before posting mis-information such as this. How can you make blanket statements like this if you don't even know the guys name that you're referring to?

It's true that TJ has a long history of corruption. But the difference is that we have not seen the cops extorting money for tourists for no reason. Before the cops would demand a bribe if you did something wrong like run a stop sign. The cops have been simply stopping tourists to see if they can get some money from them. Things have improved some, but I have my doubts.

[QUOTE=Hizark21]It's true that TJ has a long history of corruption. But the difference is that we have not seen the cops extorting money for tourists for no reason. Before the cops would demand a bribe if you did something wrong like run a stop sign. The cops have been simply stopping tourists to see if they can get some money from them. Things have improved some, but I have my doubts.[/QUOTE]


I lived in TJ long before and after Rhon took office and I saw no difference in the tactics that the policia would use to take money from mongers or tourists while I lived there.

The lack of tourism in TJ has become much worse since the first part of 2007 when the federal troops were sent in. IMO for this reason coupled with a general lack of ethics in the TJPD and the city are the cause for the increase in incidents like these. This has little or nothing to do with Rhon. He has not been the mayor of TJ for almost 4 months now but there are more problems now than before he left office.

There are patrol cars waiting outside of La Zona Roja at night.

I got pulled over for no reason, about 50% the time, driving past Chicago towards the highway back to the border. It was dark in that area. There were noone around. 2 cops carrying submachine guns checked all my papers then accused me of running the stop signs and other bull shit...They wanted to know if I had drunk beer...of course I did not.

They wanted to know what work I do. I told them I am a detective for San Diego County Sheriff Department. They wanted to see my ID. I said I left it at home. They asked me the name of the Sheriff. I made up some bull shit name. The fuckers did not even know.

It dragged out for about 15 minutes. They started to demand cerveza money. I did not give it to them. They finally took off in their patrol car.

They could have killed me right there and got away with murder. No witness, not that witness would be of any help in fucked up Mexico. That was when I decided to stop driving to La Zona Roja at night.

The big difference is that that they are stopping tourists for no reason. Their only motivation is to extort money from them. Reports from earlier this year confirm this. They were stopping people who were simply walking across the pedestrian bridge and heading back to the US.

It will probably be a long time before I head to TJ.

Another Saturday night at El Torito and another Saturday night of markedly smaller numbers of gringo(a)s or touristy types.

Walking Revolution at about 11PM is also erie, no tourist traffic to speak of. some of the shops stay open until midnight trying to wring an extra buck out of the passers by. The place is turning into a ghost town.

Thanks to TJPD.

My girlie's sister manages an apartment building two doors down from Chicago Club. We stop by and visit her, drop the kids off with her etc every so-often. I got stopped quite a bit. I never give into their suggestions that I did something wrong. they don't bother me anymore, they don't bother my girl - they leave us alone.

My girl drives a 2002 Saturn that I bought for her several months back. She has no drivers license, the car has no plates and no registration yet she has no problems dealing with the cops. Go figger.

The message has to get through to the merchants that they are dying because of the cops and what they are doing to the tourist trade. But remember that the "tourist" we are talking about mostly mis-behaves, get's drunk and dis-orderly, carries drugs, etc.etc. Mr. and Mrs. average American touist that visits during the day or early evening has loittle to worry about.

One day the message WILL get throough. In the meantime, behave and be safe. These cops havce a $100 a day cargo. Don't let them take your money.

Country John

Went to TJ Saturday and spent the night. Cops did a sweep through the alley at about 5:30, slowly working their way with two trucks and about eight or ten men. One street girl told me that they were there the day before (Friday) for more than two hours and it was hurting business. It was slow all night.

On the return home in the morning, I got stuck at US Customs behind some loser who didn't have a driver's license. He told the customs agent it was suspended when he was caught DUI. The agent at the counter chewed him out for not getting a regular California ID in its place and after about five minutes of looking through every piece of paper in his wallet, sent him over to a secondary inspection officer.

Finally, when it was my turn, the officer asked what the purpose of my visit to Mexico was. I replied, "Chasing Latinas!" That got a big chuckle out of him and he waved me through.

[QUOTE=Heyzeus]TJ was corrupt long before Jorge HANK Rhon took over as mayor in 2004. Anyway Rhon has not been the mayor of Tijuana since February of this year. He stepped down to run for BC governor.

I wish people on this board would do a little research before posting mis-information such as this. How can you make blanket statements like this if you don't even know the guys name that you're referring to?[/QUOTE]Hank left his [i]suplente[/i], C.P. Kurt Ignacio Honold Morales, to mind the store while he makes his bid for governor. If Hank fails in his bid, he will return to the palacio municipal and serve out his term as mayor. Hank should not have been allowed to do this, due to a recently enacted "anti-chapulín" law prohibited exactly what he did; however, the electoral authority is staffed by pro-Hank people.

Politicians in Mexico run for office with a designated suplente. The suplente is meant to continue the poltician's policies in force in the event the politician steps down either temporarily or permanently. Even though Honold is in the office, he is still running the Hank administration.

Now, as to whether Hank wears a white hat or a black one...

Hank is the presumptive author of the murder of Félix Miranda, a respected journalist: the man who pulled the trigger was Hank's bodyguard and is in prison for that murder. Hank's current bodyguard is the son of the fellow in prison and is generally believed to have recently murdered the chief of police of the Otay delegation because the chief had been critical of Hank's handling of the police department.

Hank has indeed behaved as if he owns all of Tijuana. The race track at Agua Caliente is one of the more long-standing examples of this: Hank bought it some years ago in order to take advantage of the off-track licenses that came with it, then stopped the horse races and fired the workers, leaving the place almost deserted. It is now home for his collection of bears, those big furry things usually only seen in zoos. Last year, by fiat, he moved the annual Tequila Festival from Revo to the Agua Caliente parking lot, much to the consternation of all involved.

Locally, it is a "secreto a voces" that Hank is connected with the Arellano-Félix cartel and with Carlos Salinas de Gortari. In fact, when Hank ran for mayor, he used to promise with a wink that, through his connections, he'd be able to control the excesses of the drug cartels within the city limits. He has failed miserably, although, to be fair, his failure is due in part to the PAN and its ally, the Juárez cartel, which is competition beyond his control.

It has been my personal experience, in the forty years I've known Tijuana, that the police have never behaved as brazenly and as immorally as they have under Hank's administration. Many career-minded police left the force shortly after he took office, among which were some of my own friends -- they said it was just too dangerous to remain on the force nowadays.

Now, what sort of research do you think I should do before posting this?

PG

TJ and Mexico are far more corrupt and scary than I imagined.

I feel deeply sorry for the young reporters who were murdered by corrupt politicians and drug traffickers. At least Hank's bodyguard was convicted of murder and sitting in jail, so the judicial system still works somewhat.

The population still voted for Hank as their mayor? They need to be better informed and take positive actions against the evils that are ruining the life of people of Mexico.

I found an article on signonsandiego.com. Apparently, TJ is creating a "ticket free zone" on the highway that leads over to the toll road from the border. Apparently, a lot of Americans are getting pulled over for "driving while gringo" and getting shaken down. The ticket free zone will make it illegal for the cops to ticket you on this section of road. However, we all know that it will continue.

One thing that I found very interesting, and I will post here, is the procedures for what to do if you get stopped by the cops. They also note who to call and complain in case you get shaken down. This will apply to all random stops and shakedowns in the zone / by the border as well.

Be safe down there.

Blue Nose

TICKET PROCEDURES
What to do if you are stopped by a police officer in Mexico

If the violation seems valid, you should obtain a written citation. You can typically pay it by mail later. Some officers have hand-held computerized devices that allow you to pay a fine immediately with a credit card.

If you suspect the violation is invalid, don't hand over your wallet, or offer money. Insist on being taken to the nearest municipal judge's station. If you are forced to give money, keep a record of the incident. Take notes on where and when it took place and the officer's badge number.

Report the incident to the San Diego Police Department or U.S. Consulate in Tijuana.

If it happened in Tijuana, you can also file a complaint online at [url]www.sindicatura.gob.mx[/url] Click “English” and then “complaints” for the online form. Rosarito Beach tourism officials plan to include something similar on that city's Web site, rosarito.org

SOURCE: Baja California tourism and public safety officials

I hope you guys dont mind me asking this here.

How long on average would you say it takes to cross the border from the US to TJ and vice versa? How long are you waiting in line?

Also, from the San Diego area, is there an alternate way to get into Baja without having to go through TJ? Just to avoid the local TJPD.

Thanks.

Good report Bluenose.

One thing to keep in mind is that if you are stopped int he Zona, the longer you can keep the cops tied up without handing over money the better.

Once they get the feel that they are wasting time, they move on.

Country John

[quote="bluenose"]the procedures for what to do if you get stopped by the cops. They also note who to call and complain in case you get shaken down. This will apply to all random stops and shakedowns in the zone / by the border as well.

Be safe down there.[/quote]Of course I'm safe down here. Why, I've had more trouble with cops north of the border and I'm what you call a decent, law-abiding citizen no matter where in the world I might happen to be.

Traffic stops and police shakedowns are two completely different things. (And that's also true wherever in the world you happen to be.) If you are driving a car, you have been extended the privilege (or license) to do so and so are subject administratively to the requirements of that privilege. If you are walking down a street committing no apparent crime, you are subject to no administrative law and the State has a constructive obligation to protect your basic (or human or Constitutional) rights. The State has even signed international treaties to that effect.

A few years ago, a deputy district attorney here in Tijuana said to me "You know, our laws aren't that much different than your laws." She had mistaken me for one of those America-Firsters who believe Mexico respects no law. I had to remind her that I am also a subject of Mexican law and that my curiousity had to do with the difference between Roman Law (the basis of Mexican jurisprudence) and medieval common law (the basis of Anglo-American jurisprudence). She admitted that therein lies the difference. Mexico actually has more "human" rights on the books than does the U.S.; which rights are enforced and how they are enforced are, however, always at the whim of every political administration. Just ask the folks in Al-Ghraib and Guantanamo and East Los Angeles.

[b]Traffic stops[/b]

Either you committed a traffic violation or you didn't. You went the wrong way on a one-way street? You were talking on your cell phone while driving? You weren't using your seatbelt? Yep, you deserve the ticket. You didn't have a fire extinguisher in your car? That's the law but the cop would have needed probable cause to stop you for it. Find your citable offenses at [url]http://www.congresobc.gob.mx/reglamentacion/municipal/Tijuana/Tijuana_-_Reglamentacion_Munic/Reg_De_Transito/reg_de_transito.html[/url]

If you're guilty, or if you don't want to fight the ticket, you can mail your check to a post office box in San Ysidro. I didn't know about the handheld credit-card reader until Blue Nose posted it but, as long as I were ready to admit guilt as to the traffic infraction, there's no reason why I couldn't pay the fine on the spot by credit card. In the event of an irregularity, I could always ask my card issuer for a chargeback later.

Paying on the spot in cash is another issue entirely. If the policeman asks you to pay in cash, he will be guilty of extortion. If you offer to pay the policeman in cash, you will be guilty of bribery. Those are two different sections of the Penal Code and the proof in either case will be a matter of he-said-she-said with the loser going to prison. I would never give a policeman cash because I support neither extortion nor bribery. Nor will I contribute to any Internet forum that countenances either crime.

It is your right to be taken immediately to the [i]comandancia[/i], where the [i]juez calificador[/i] will hear the cop's version, then your version, and then make a determination as to the legitmacy of the infraction.

Even if the cop and the judge are in cahoots, this step will create a paper trail that can incriminate them later on. You must ask yourself "Am I man enough to confront this? Am I level-headed enough to confront this? In fact, am I a man at all or am I merely another empty-headed consumer? Do I want to die on my feet or live on my knees?" If we were to shine a bright enough light on the stories of police misconduct, I think we would find that the mistrust -- in fact, the anger -- that gringos have expressed toward Mexico comes from specific incidents in which their resolve had been tested and had been found wanting. Most gringo tourists simply wereren't man enough to stand on their feet before a simple Tijuana policeman: to get even, they spend the rest of their lives spewing racial hatred the way Ed "Big Daddy" Roth did.

Anyway, your right as an accused, even for traffic infractions, is for three judicial hearings. Your juez calificador is simply the first of those three and all he can do is to decide whether to bind you over for trial or to kick you loose. If the charge is trumped up and if he's in cahoots with the cop and if he binds you over for trial and if you stand up for yourself, then the rest of the state judicial apparatus will take notice of him and he could wind up in El Hongo. The juez calificador is also aware that the U.S. Consulate in Tijuana will be notified automatically on binding you over for trial ... the consul is an [i]éminence grise[/i] ... there are stories I don't tell about him on public forums ... but he does act decisively in the furtherance of whatever policy Foggy Bottom wants to have carried out. (Yes, it's time to vote the Bush Family Wehrmacht out of office!) As far as your immediate problem is concerned, the less you know about your legal rights, the more power a corrupt policeman or first-tier judge will have over you.

[b]Police shakedowns[/b]

Here's what the Federal Constitution says about search and seizure. This is from Article Sixteen.

[i]Nadie puede ser molestado en su persona, familia, domicilio, papeles o posesiones, sino en virtud de mandamiento escrito de la autoridad competente, que funde y motive la causa legal de procedimiento.

No podrá librarse orden de aprehensión sino por la autoridad judicial y sin que preceda denuncia o querella de un hecho que la ley señale como delito, sancionado cuando menos con pena privativa de libertad y existan datos que acrediten el cuerpo del delito y que hagan probable la responsabilidad del indiciado.

La autoridad que ejecute una orden judicial de aprehensión, deberá poner al inculpado a disposición del juez, sin dilación alguna y bajo su más estricta responsabilidad. La contravención a lo anterior será sancionada por la ley penal.
En los casos de delito flagrante, cualquier persona puede detener al indiciado poniéndolo sin demora a disposición de la autoridad inmediata y ésta, con la misma prontitud, a la del Ministerio Público.

Sólo en casos urgentes, cuando se trate de delito grave así calificado por la ley y ante el riesgo fundado de que el indiciado pueda sustraerse a la acción de la justicia, siempre y cuando no se pueda ocurrir ante la autoridad judicial por razón de la hora, lugar o circunstancia, el Ministerio Público podrá, bajo su responsabilidad, ordenar su detención, fundando y expresando los indicios que motiven su proceder.

En casos de urgencia o flagrancia, el juez que reciba la consignación del detenido deberá inmediatamente ratificar la detención o decretar la libertad con las reservas de ley.

Ningún indiciado podrá ser retenido por el Ministerio Público por más de cuarenta y ocho horas, plazo en que deberá ordenarse su libertad o ponérsele a disposición de la autoridad judicial; este plazo podrá duplicarse en aquellos casos que la ley prevea como delincuencia organizada. Todo abuso a lo anteriormente dispuesto será sancionado por la ley penal.[/i]

In other words, a policeman needs to have good cause to stop you on the street and he needs a search warrant signed by a judge if he wants you to turn out your pockets. Otherwise he'd be in violation of the the Federal Constitution, something that is purportedly protected by the various Comisiones de Derechos Humanos within Mexico and without.

In the event that your "human" rights are violated in Tijuana, it is best not to become confrontational but to inquire as to the basis for your detention: what law are you accused of having violated and under what authority are you being detained? A policeman must take you before a judge if you so request because a policeman is, in the oldest sense of a very old word, nothing more than a "catchpoll". The Tijuana police have less authority, and in many cases are not even as bright, as San Diego Sheriff's deputies.

[b]Corrective Actions[/b]

If you hope to correct this problem, you must preserve the body of the crime. It will not do simply to complain to other mongers that the pinche chota ripped you off again. If you hope to make a difference, you will need to specify the who, the what, the where, the when, the why, and the how before a competent authority. Anything less than that is simply whining and, at least down here in Mexico, real men don't whine. Down here, not even [i]los agachados[/i] whine ... and their masculinity has always been a bit suspect.

The first recourse should be with our local tourist board. They tell me that they still maintain attorneys on staff to help even in cases where the tourist is at fault. They have a toll-free phone number, [b]078[/b], that you can call from any telephone in Tijuana and where you can find English-speaking assistance day or night. My suggestion is that you call this number as soon as you can after an extorionate incident and ask that the tourist board send an attorney immediately to your location. Such an attorney is trained to preserve the body of your alleged crime. And, even if you turn out to be in the wrong, he (or she) will be obligated by law to protect your rights before the competent authorities.

The second recourse should be with the Chamber of Commerce's anti-corruption unit. You can call them when you get back home at [b]1-866-INFO-TJ3[/b]. I spoke with these people about a year and a half ago: they appear to be moderately bilingual paralegals or licensed attorneys whose mission it is to protect tourist business. (One Wing Low reported previously that the number is out of service, but he was more than one wing low because he wing wong numba.) Let these folks know who it was you talked to at 078 in order for the two groups to join forces.

The third recourse, for any abuse originating from city employees as opposed to state or federal employees, is the Sindicatura that Bluenose mentioned earlier. The linkage he gives sends you to an online compaint form. The Síndico is an elected official who supposedly has greater legal authority than the mayor himself; at least the job of his department is to investigate the misbehavior of all city officials. I had a long chat with a member of the Sindicatura recently and he assured me that, within the last year, they were instrumental in firing two hundred fifty corrupt police officers. Whether those officers were corrupt because they were frightening tourists, extorting good citizens, or merely voting for the PAN, this fellow didn't say. But I expect to find out soon.

At least two other recourses are available for you but I cannot list them here. I have only e-mail addresses for the state Human Rights Commissioner and for the municipal police force's Internal Affairs department. This text-entry window has a warning below it, [color="red"]Reports containing email addresses will be deleted without comment.[/color] I'll try to get those addresses uploaded in another post.

PG

[size=-2][b][u]EDITOR'S NOTE[/u]:[/b] [blue]I certainly hope that the author or somebody else will post a link to this report in the Reports of Distinction thread. Please [url=http://www.internationalsexguide.info/forum/announcement-reportsofdistinction.php?]Click Here[/url] for more information.[/blue][/size]