President Pena Nieto Calls for Unified Police Command with State Governments EFE
go to original February 19, 2013

Mexican president calls for unified police command (EFE)

MEXICO CITY - Officials will begin working on the legal framework for creating a unified police command in each of Mexico's states, an initiative that has the support of state governors, President Enrique Peña Nieto said.

Government Secretary Miguel Angel Osorio Chong is going to review the legal requirements for forming unified police agencies with the state governments, Peña Nieto told a gathering of governors and Cabinet members in the northern city of Chihuahua.

The creation of unified law enforcement agencies "will allow the strengthening" of police departments, "committing them with greater efficiency to the challenge of giving security to the people and peace to the country," Peña Nieto said.

Mexico has more than 2,000 police departments, the majority of them run by municipalities, with many law enforcement agencies infiltrated by drug cartels and other organized crime groups.

Former President Felipe Calderon, who was in office from 2006 to 2012, submitted legislation to Congress in 2010 that would have created 32 state police forces.

These state police agencies would have absorbed Mexico's municipal departments and had a unified command.

The legislation was approved by the lower house of Congress, but the Senate did not take action on it.

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