Guadalajara -
Mayor Ramiro Hernández García didn't mince words today when he candidly admitted that Guadalajara's rising level of violence concerns him.
"Security here is a worry. It's our job to look for ways to deal with the problem of insecurity in the city. From our first day in office we've focused on that issue, but we've not had the results we wanted."
In the less than four months of 2013 Hernández has had to deal with with the assassination of the Jalisco Secretary of State, an Easter night attack against two bars which left eight people dead and the execution of two police officers within the Guadalajara Metro Zone. A North American was one of the bar victims.
Hernández, who is a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party with a long political track record, blamed the problem in part on insufficient manpower. The city has a little more than 2,000 preventivos - municipal officers - but the mayor said that was not enough. As in many communities, a plan is in the works here to integrate state and city officers into a unified police force.
"We also need to create an auxiliary police force closely connected to the Guadalajara community," said Hernández. "We have to have a presence throughout the city, so we can better communicate with residents."
U.S. analysts predicted almost a year ago that Guadalajara would be a new battleground in Mexico's 76 month old drug war. On Feb. 4 the Jalisco prosecutor said competing cartels and local gangs are "heating up the plaza" in this state, as they struggle for control of the drug trade and collateral crime.
July 10 - In Guadalajara, 20 local gangs work with organized crime
May 14 - Drug cartels behind three recent Guadalajara attacks
Apr. 24 - Six Lake Chapala police officers ordered to stand trial in kidnapping, attempted murder case
Apr. 16 - Police intelligence officer executed in Guadalajara
Apr. 2 - Mexico's March drug war tally was 1,025 dead, with Jalisco state in fourth place nationwide
Apr. 1 - Death toll in Guadalajara bar attacks rises to eight
Mar. 9 - Jalisco Secretary of Tourism assassinated in Guadalajara
Feb. 9 - Area police chief executed in Guadalajara Metro Zone
Oct. 11 - Jalisco homicides remain unabated in September
Sept. 6 - Six murders in 12 hours alarm Guadalajara metro and suburbs; security sweeps underway
© MGRR 2013. All rights reserved. This article may be cited or briefly quoted with proper attribution or a hyperlink, but not reproduced without permission.
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