"Tijuana’s top cop cites results amid claims of brutality."

Here is an excerpt from Sandra Dibble's article in the San Diego Union-Tribune:

To his many admirers, Tijuana’s public safety chief has been a key player in the city’s emergence from its darkest days of kidnappings, drug violence and widespread police corruption. Supporters say Julian Leyzaola’s efforts have helped create a renewed sense of public security, and they hope it will pave the way for a much-needed economic recovery by drawing new investment and encouraging many Americans who were driven away by fears of crime to return. Amid the choruses of praise, accusations have emerged from suspects who said Leyzaola tortured them to extract false confessions. Human rights groups have taken up their cause and are calling for the chief’s removal, saying such actions overshadow any accomplishments... Leyzaola’s hands-on style has won him supporters on both sides of the border, and U.S. agencies paid homage to his efforts last week at a ceremony in Tijuana... For many Tijuana residents, the drop in high-profile violence such as decapitations, hangings and public shootouts among rival gangs is cause for celebration, no matter what the reason. Recent months have seen the opening of new restaurants and the rebirth of a night life in the city... Crime statistics show a mixed picture, said Juan Manuel Hernandez, president of the Tijuana business group Coparmex. Car thefts, burglaries and kidnappings went down while homicides and robberies rose between 2008 and July of this year, according to a Coparmex study. A state government report that compares crime in the first eight months of 2009 with the same period this year shows an overall drop of 12 percent for common offenses in the city, but notes an increase in violent crime... Yet the fact that Tijuana’s rate of violence remains far lower than that of Mexican cities on the Texas border, such as Ciudad Juarez, may have more to do with the dynamics of drug groups than the efforts of law enforcement." Link to Full Article

Analysis: So this story brings us to an Abu Ghraib-style debate over appropriate law enforcement tactics in Mexico. It's true that for the past eight months or so, things have been remarkably quiet in Tijuana; or just so loud in Ciudad Juárez that Tijuana is being drowned out. Of course, that begs the question if the newfound calm is a result of law enforcement efforts or the shifting dynamics of DTOs, as David Shirk from the University of San Diego suggests. There's no reason it can't be a bit of both.

If you remember, Teodoro "El Teo" Garcia Simental was captured earlier this year (in January, I believe) and his right hand man, Raydel "El Muletas" López Uriarte, and brother Carlos were also arrested. I thought for sure that things were going to heat up after that, as the head of the AFO - Fernando Sanchez Arellano - made a play to get his territory back from the Sinaloa Federation's proxy group. Oddly enough, Tijuana has stayed mostly out of the news since those arrests, which is a good thing all around.

Or is it? Is Leyzaola being too heavy handed and extracting false confessions under duress? Or are criminals just trying to make him look bad? Either is possible, and it's hard to believe a drug trafficker who is likely going to jail for a while. And maybe that's part of the problem. If Leyzaola and his people are engaging in abusive tactics, they're probably banking on the fact no one is really going to believe the narco who's beat up and tortured his fair share of people.

Does that make it right? It depends on whom you ask. We get pretty bent out of shape here in the US when our troops or police officers get too heavy-handed with people, no matter how evil they are. In Mexico and elsewhere in Latin America, the attitude towards civil rights - and their suspension during times of domestic turmoil - is often different than it is here. Considering what the Mexican people have been through in the last decade, I'm going to presume that they would find Leyzaola's behavior - if those accusations are accurate - perfectly acceptable and appropriate. At least someone is getting things done in Tijuana, and roughing up some people may be the price that has to be paid for peace.

I'm sure there's some reader out there who's a member of the ACLU or something and screaming at the screen right now. Just remember, Mexico isn't the United States, and the mayor and residents of Tijuana have likely reached that point of "desperate times call for desperate measures." God knows how many thousands of people are having their civil rights violated every day by brutal thugs who don't give a crap if you don't feel safe enough to vote, go food shopping, or take your kids to school.

I do feel this is another great topic for debate. What do YOU think? Is it time for Mexican law enforcement to take things up a notch in order to get the narcos to pay attention? Is the violation of suspected drug traffickers' civil rights too steep a price to pay, no matter what the results?

Comments

[DaShui]

A concise definition of the modern nation state is "a corporation that possesses a monopoly on violence within a geographic area."
Because the modern state evolved out of the European religious wars, the state doesn't exist to make sure my rights are not violated, it exists to impose order. Now if the Mexican state is unable or unwilling to impose order then there are 2 consequences. The US or the UN could go in and run the place like Haiti, or Mexico could devolve into something else, Narcofeudalism?

If this was happening in America, we would already be under martial law.

[Scott]

YES!

[Fred Hiker]

No matter how you spin it torture is torture….and you are either for it or against it. I’m against it.

[chris]

I travel atleast 3 times amonth to tijuana it seems more safe but the city is dirty about violence I haven't heard anything big like a shoout .. I hope we can travel more ..and yes cops should take over and step up but overall I see more americans going over the border which is good for the tijuanas economy..

[James Ritter [Slow POKEY]]

I think Julian Leyzaola knows his way around in Tijuana and knows what he's doing,I'm not saying it's right I'm saying it's Mexico.

[Anonymous]

It could be that the Tijuana media is being pressured not to report on the crime situation by the city administration. The Union-Tribune had an article this weekend about Jorge Ramos. The article said he was lashing out at the U.S. media for reporting about the insecurity in T.J. In the article there was a mention on how Tijuana newscasts were being told to tone down their reporting on crime in an effort to help the city's tarnished image.
It's just my opinion but I believe Leyzaola is in the pocket of El Ingeniero. Just doesn't seem believable that the Sinaloa group would just pick up and leave. I would think they would send other groups into the area to try and take control. For a while it looked like El Teo was going to wipe out El Ingeniero and Leyzaola.

[hasta la madre]

I'm sorry to say this, but the fourth paragraph of your analysis just makes you sound like an ignorant gringo. The PDH is an institution with much weight in Mexico, and its pressure against Leyzaola is taken into consideration by the educated citizenry of the state of Baja California. You simply can't say "the mayor and residents of Tijuana have likely reached that point of 'desperate times call for desperate measures.'" and expect to be taken seriously.

[Annonymous 2]

As you so aptly put it, Mexico is not the USA. Arguably, living in Mexico is more dangerous than living in Iraq or Afghanistan. There have been over 29,000 deaths in Mexico since El Presidente Calderon started his war on DTOs in Mexico. To me, Mexico's ethical, honest, honorable LEO need to take off the kit gloves and go to war in earnest against these thugs. How soon we forget Al Capone in Chicago and the Mafia in NYC! Our public schools are failing to teach history as a tool for applying it to today's situations.

[Thomas M]

How does one meet violent evil? With counseling? How does a nation fight egregeous blood letting? With negotiation? Nope. If one must use the minimal force necessary to win, then that force must be more than equal to the violence. That's the way it is with war. The way it is in sport too. Sport protects against personal damage. War and corruption could not care less about damage and in fact loves to damage. So to kid glove these criminals is to design failure in a fight against them. Let them know loudly that they will be destroyed - utterly destoyed. Then without pulling any punches, destroy them.

[Zack]

The bad guys are being tortured by police around the same time Tijuana chills out? That's not a coincidence. Though temporary I'm sure, but if results are coming around then this form of direct action from the police seems to be working.

I Like how the Mexican perspective was shared here, that's absent in our news. It makes sense to me that if the public is in a position of desperation than they would hardly feel for the detained.

But all of that sort of optimism blows to the wind if this guy is pulling false confessions that he can add to his record! In a position of desperation, that seems like a plausible thing to me.