Local police resign or desert posts in Jalisco, Michoacán

Many officers go AWOL, terrified that they'll be the next victims

A two officer foot patrol was attacked in Juárez the morning of Jan. 10, 2012 by a machine gun wielding hit team. One died instantly, and the other was gravely wounded. Local police, known as "preventivos," often are targets in Mexico's drug war.

Guadalajara -
In the wake of multiple organized crime attacks which wracked the central Pacific coast states of Jalisco and Michoacán last weekend (Christmas Eve Narco Violence), local police are tendering resignations or simply abandoning their posts in droves.

In Ayotlán, Jalisco, police and municipal buildings were attacked Sunday by up to 30 heavily armed assailants traveling in a convoy. Four city officers and a civilian were ambushed and shot to death.

In a separate incident the same day, four policemen in Pihuamo, in southern Jalisco, were kidnapped while working a bullfight security detail. Their bodies, together with that of a civilian, were found the next morning just meters from the Michoacán state line. All had been handcuffed, blind folded, shot with AK-47 and AR-15 assault rifles and then decapitated. The executioners left an undisclosed note.

In Briseñas, Michoacán, five local officers were killed over the weekend.

Altogether, 13 police officers were murdered during 36 hours of horrific violence, and at least another 10 were injured (Death toll in Jalisco-Michoacán violence rises to 28).

At least 34 officers employed by Ayotlán and Briseñas failed to appear for work after Monday, news sources report. In the former, another 25 - including the city police chief - tendered resignations. But mayor Jesús Rodríguez said the resignations had been "rejected."

The major also admitted that on the day of the attacks, 31 officers were not at their assigned posts when they should have been, suggesting some may have had a premonition - if not advance notice - of the coming violence. Those 31 are being formally dismissed from the force, making them ineligible for future police jobs.

Ayotlán has a municipal police force of 72. But with the sudden resignations and desertions, that number has been cut by almost half. Jalisco state police and federal troops are providing security until the problem is resolved.

In Pihuamo and Briseñas, a total of three local police officers quit.

Officials in both states have placed primary responsibility for the brutal weekend attacks on Los Caballeros Templarios, a Michoacán-based crime organization which has long plagued the region.

Dec. 28 - The director of the office of crime prevention of the Michoacán state prosecutor's office, who vanished from Morelia on Christmas Eve, was murdered authorities say. His body, recovered Dec. 25, was identified by family members. He died from multiple gunshot wounds. His death brings to 14 the number of law enforcement officials executed in the two state region during last weekend's rampage.
Dec. 30 - Police chiefs in Ayotlán, Jalisco have shared history of organized crime involvement

Apr. 11, 2013 - Mexico's troublesome policías comunitarias will prompt Failed State theories

Narco violence targeting local police
Nov. 30 - Commando squad attacks Guadalajara suburban police unit
Oct. 18 - Guadalajara area police commander in grave condition after organized crime hit
Jan. 31 - Juárez police take refuge in fortress hotels to escape roaming cartel hit teams
Jan. 30 - Police are now primary targets of brazen daytime attacks in Ciudad Juárez
Jan. 10 - Revenge attack against Ciudad Juárez police patrol leaves one dead, five injured