Special Report Part 3: Juarez Models Military, Police Changes After Colombian Tactics
Medellin went from one of the deadliest cities in the world to one of the most progressive cities in Latin America.
The “Medellin miracle” as it’s been called began with a re-vamping of law enforcement and of military. The city’s transition from disarray to distinction offers hope for a brighter future in El Paso’s sister city of Juarez.
The murder rate in Medellin has decreased by as much as 80 percent and Jorge Rosas Duenas, a colonel in Colombia’s army, said the city is much safer.
Military and civilian authorities have worked to find a path for success, “even though the journey’s been difficult,” said Medellin mayor Alonzo Salazar.
Some of the tactics include, the creation of a national police force, spreading officers with drug and bomb-sniffing dogs throughout the city, and random checks for weapons at public buildings.
Despite the tremendous advances made in Colombia with respect to narco terrorism and curbing a lot of the violence, it’s still far from a perfect country. In fact, even one of the days ABC-7 was filming this story, a bomb was set off in downtown Bogota. Journalists were the target.
Another strategy being used in Colombia is the military, which also is being used in Mexico’s drug war. “That’s one of the things that we tried to bring to the city of Juarez” former Juarez mayor Jose Reyes Rerriz said. “Especially bringing in about 5,000 troops to work with our police department in Juarez.” Some of those Mexican troops were trained personally by Col. Duenas.
In march of 2009, soldiers arrived to patrol the streets of Juarez but were replaced by thousands of federal officers about one year later, all while the local police beefed up its ranks.
“In Juarez, we doubled the size of the police department” Reyes Ferriz said.
Although life has greatly improved, Medellin is not perfect. Many residents told ABC-7 corruption still exists with government officials and law enforcement, but, at least it’s not as bad as it used to be, and the situation has improved a lot.
In an attempt to fight corruption, officials in Medellin increased law enforcement salaries, easing the temptation to take petty bribes.
“You have to purify the police,” mayor Salazar said.
It is something Juarez also is trying to do. About 3,200 Mexican federal agents –nearly a tenth of the force– .. have been fired this year under new rules designed to weed out crooked cops.
And officials hope sense of safety can bring tourists back to Juarez as it has in Medellin.
Related Links:Link:Special Report Part 1: Comparing Colombia’s Past Drug War To Juarez’s Current ViolenceLink:Special Report Part 2: Juarez Leaders Hope Youth Programs, Facilities Will Help End Violence
